


Black Sea

by nishiki



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Bisexual Diego Hargreeves, Bottom Klaus Hargreeves, Complicated Relationships, Diego loves Klaus, Drug Addict Klaus Hargreeves, Established Relationship, Good Brother Luther Hargreeves, If only Klaus wasn't an addict, Investigations, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Klaus loves Diego, Luther Hargreeves Has a Human Body, M/M, Mentions of Rape, More characters to be added, Murder, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Past Eudora Patch/Diego Hargreeves, Pre-Canon, Pre-serum Luther Hargreeves, Prostitute Klaus Hargreeves, Prostitution, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Luther Hargreeves, Warnings Will Change, conflicted Diego Hargreeves, mentions of torture, officer Eudora Patch, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-01-04 13:20:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21198308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: When a serial killer has chosen his city as their hunting ground, Diego Hargreeves is worried about his brother Klaus' safety out on the streets. But all his worries and his pleas, like usual, fall on deaf ears with the junkie.





	1. Prolog

The lights of the police car drowned the street corner in blue and red, the headlights ripping through the nightly darkness like a lighthouse in a stormy sea. Rain was pouring from the heavens with newfound vigor as the wind was ripping at the clothes of the people walking down the street. The black and yellow crime scene tape meant nothing to the onlookers that had gathered this late at night. It might as well be not there at all. The rain had washed away most of the evidence anyway and the people who had ignorantly walked through that alleyway all day long had long destroyed the crime scene hours if not days ago.

It was the fifth guy that had been found dead today in the span of just two months. The police force had, without a doubt, a serial killer at their hands. 

As Diego Hargreeves walked up to the police barrier, ignoring the camera crews that were already there to get a good shot of the dead body, he found a young officer rushing towards him right away. He wasn’t surprised to find her here at the scene of this crime but he rather wished she wouldn't be involved. 

"You shouldn't be here." Patch gave a long-suffering sigh as she walked straight up to that barrier to face him. She was a bit shorter than Diego was. Something that seemed to bother her now that she was forced to look up at him and something that she rather enjoyed when they had still been a couple. He remembered her raising to the tips of her toes to kiss him in the morning before leaving for work. It seemed a lifetime ago now.

"This uniform suits you."

"Don't test my patience, Hargreeves." She threatened but there was still this glimmer in her eyes that told him clear enough that despite her words she was still fond of him in a weird way. Not that he would ever understand why. There were only very few people in his life of which Diego knew they loved him unconditionally. One was a robot, the other a junkie and Patch had once belonged in this group of people as well. "What do you want?"

"It's the fifth victim, isn't it?" He cut straight to the point as he gestured towards the mouth of the alleyway where the forensics were currently moving about. 

"I am not supposed to tell you anything." 

"You don't have to. Blink once for yes and twice for no."

"Diego-"

"I want to help, Eudora."

"Don't call me that." She replied sharply. "And if you truly want to help maybe you should have tried to stay out of trouble at the academy and actually become a proper cop. This whole nonsense that you’re doing - your vigilante Batman bullshit, that's only a fantasy."

"You liked that fantasy once."

"Yeah and I was a lot younger and dumber back then." 

"It was four years ago, come on now."

"What can I say? I did a lot of emotional growth during that time."

"Patch!" Someone called out for her and as she looked over her shoulder, she gave her partner a small wave, signalizing that she would be coming shortly. She didn't leave immediately though. Instead, as she looked up at Diego again she bit her bottom lip - a nervous tick he knew all too well from their time as a couple. She wanted to say or do something of which she knew she shouldn't. He could see her inner conflict behind her brown eyes clear as day.

"Listen, Diego … Meet me later at Griddy’s."

"Is that a date?"

"Definitely not. I will do a coffee run for the others when we get back to the station. I guess in 30 minutes. The team is almost done and the body is ready to be sent to the morgue now. There is something I need to tell you." She turned around at that, not waiting for his response to walk back to her partner. 

Diego, however, stayed for a few moments longer to watch how the body was wheeled out of the alley on a stretcher, nicely covered up in a black bag. The photographers were immediately snapping pictures, the cameras filming the procedure. He felt his stomach turn. Those people … They were like cockroaches. They were nothing but parasites, filming dead bodies, taking pictures of them - stripping them of their identity, of their worth as a human being, forgetting that each victim of a crime they filmed or photographed was someone's brother or sister, someone's mother or father, someone's child. 

With disgust for those people, Diego turned away and started his walk back the way he came, his next destination clear in his mind. 

Eudora arrived forty minutes later at Griddy’s Doughnuts just as Diego was draining his second cup of coffee at the bar. He tried not to reminisce too much how he and his siblings used to come here as children and eat donuts until they were nauseous. He tried not to think about how he would sometimes find Klaus here because the waitress allowed him to stay as long as he would let her refill his coffee every now and then. 

"Sorry, this took a bit longer than expected." Patch addressed him after the little bell over the door had announced her arrival. She quickly slid onto the barstool next to Diego and, as the waitress, Agnes, came out of the kitchen, she gave her a friendly smile and ordered ‘the usual’.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Diego turned his attention to his ex-girlfriend while Agnes was preparing the coffees for Patch’s coworkers.

"It's about the murders."

"I thought you didn't want me to help."

"I don't." She shrugged. "Listen, this is confidential, and if it gets out that I told you I’m gonna lose my job."

"Now you have my attention." He turned in his seat to signalize that she had his full attention, leaning against the counter with his left side as Eudora did the same thing. He could see it in her face that now was not the time for bullshit or jokes. He could respect that.

"Okay so … we withheld this information until now, right?" She looked over at Agnes but it was unlikely that she would hear anything. Patch knew how to talk very quietly and the coffee machine was still from the last century as it seemed. The noise was unbearable. "The victims were all known to be prostitutes. Most of them have been convicted or arrested a few times for possession as well."

"So junkie hookers." Diego summarized quietly. Something was tearing at his intestines.

"Not how I would frame it, but yes." She shrugged.

"And you are telling me this, why?"

"You know why." She sighed before reaching out to him and placing her hand on Diego’s on the counter. "Listen, we broke up and I don't regret it. But I still care for you, okay? I’m saying this to warn you and take action accordingly. Those guys … they all were a similar type. Scrawny, thin, dark hair, white - not the type of guy you would expect much of a fight from. Troubled. All of them. Coming from broken homes and broken families, living day by day, selling themselves to feed their addiction, no place to call home, and nowhere to go. Sounds familiar?"

He produced a strangled little sound at that.

"When did you last see your brother, Diego?" 

**-End of Chapter 1-**


	2. Chapter 2

_ The air was muggy and heavy inside the room. The smell of sweat and sex lingering over everything as the tiny bed that had been pushed into the corner of the room was creaking rhythmically with each time that Klaus lowered himself back down on the lap of his lover. Strong calloused hands came around to circle his lithe waist as the other man leaned with his back against the cold wall, desperately trying to regain his composure and control over his own body.  _

_ As Klaus dug his fingernails into the wall to both sides of his lover’s head, little chips of the cheap paint that had been used came off and fell onto the mattress below. Both hands of his lover slowly wandered down further, coming to a halt only as he grabbed his ass hard, his fingers digging into the soft skin and supple flesh - drawing another, deeper moan from Klaus’ throat before he finally came between them. Spurts of cum coating his own stomach and the chest of the man sitting underneath him - his own release soon to come as Klaus almost violently clenched around him, milking his cock dry for all that it was worth.  _

_ As their mouths found each other again and molded together like they had been made just for kissing the other, Diego felt pure bliss wash over him. _

※※※※※※※

Finding Klaus wasn't easy - as was expected when looking for someone without a roof over their head. Diego knew all the spots his brother liked to frequent, of course, but it was always a matter of if he would show up to those places or not. He spent hours just roaming the city, venturing from one of the places Klaus came to regularly to the next. 

He looked for him in the soup kitchen he would sometimes go to at this time of the year. Autumn held the city in a tight vice with storms and rain. December was right around the corner and the nights were unbearably cold outside already. The shelters were overflowing with homeless people so the chance of finding Klaus there was little to none. Klaus had never been a fan of homeless shelters. He liked being his own boss and in total control of his life - simultaneously not realizing that he was not in control at all. The drugs were. 

As the next evening rolled around he was starting to get worried. What if he was too late? Eudora’s words had haunted him all through the remainder of last night and through this entire day. He had managed to get a hold of the photos of the victims and she was right - they all were the same type of guy that Klaus was. People would call them twinks, perhaps. They had all been pretty once - before the killer had bashed their faces in until not even their own mother would be able to identify them anymore. Last night's victim had had half his face missing completely and the other half had been badly burned. 

The public was left in the dark about the killer that focused on male prostitutes. They wouldn't care either way. They would only care in the same way people in Victorian London had cared about Jack the Ripper. It was a dastardly gruesome tale to behold and talk about behind closed doors. In the public, most people would pity the victims but behind closed doors, those same people would say to each other that those victims had had it coming just for the way they were living their lives. In the eyes of the general public, those guys were the lowest of the low. They sold their bodies for drugs and money. They didn't have a place to sleep, no one who would miss them, no one who they could come back to. They only had themselves and their addiction.

Thinking that his own brother could be the next one to go missing if he wasn't already, made him nauseous. In all honesty, Diego had never quite thought about his brother this way. He knew that he was a junkie and he knew that he was selling himself but it would have never occurred to him to group Klaus with those victims and other young men like this. It was because Klaus and he had grown up together. He was his Klaus, right? Other people would see in him the exact same thing as in those other dead men but to Diego he was … he was  _ his  _ Klaus. And when it came to Klaus, Diego had never been able to be objective and rational.

He made his way downtown to where Klaus frequented raves and parties near the docks, knowing that often he would find his customers for the night there or just have a good time if he wasn't in need of money. Just thinking that his brother would sell his body to other men hurt and was almost too much for Diego to bear in the first place. 

And what if he wouldn't be able to find Klaus? Well, he would spend the entire night looking for him if it came to it. He didn't care. He just wanted to know that his brother was still breathing. Fuck, when was the last time he had heard of him? Months ago? When had he last found him in Griddy’s diner? Six months ago? Seven? And even then his brother and he barely talked. Because talking hurt. And seeing him hurt. Being around Klaus was like having one of his knives plunged over and over into his heart. 

By now, panic held his heart in a tight embrace as the thought that Klaus might be the next victim took shape more and more clearly in his mind. His brother would be found like all the other men before between trash cans or in a dumpster, discarded like garbage, mutilated beyond belief - pale, dead. His green eyes would have lost every bit of life they held, he would never hear him laugh again or even hear him say his name.

"Diego?" He whirled around right away. Around him, people were flocking to and fro the ongoing party in some abandoned warehouse in front of him. A girl was stumbling along a sidewalk clearly drunk off her ass, another one was puking out her guts behind a trashcan in the alley next to Diego. 

But there was Klaus, standing right behind him, dressed in a pair of black lace-up leather pants that left little to the imagination, some mesh shirt and a ripped-up leather jacket that he had probably stolen somewhere. It was covered in holes and patches. A small pride flag adorned the right sleeve and a spooky little cartoon ghost the other. Once upon a time, he had stolen a pin from Al’s boxing gym and that was still decorating the collar. A few long necklaces were dangling around his delicate neck and the light from a lamppost fell onto his eyes in the way that made them appear like dark pools of murky water. Like the lake where they went camping at once. Well, it had been more of a survival training, of course, but to Diego and Klaus it had been the best vacation they had ever had. They had been sixteen and stupidly horny. "Ha! See?" He looked to his side. "I told you I would recognize this gorgeous bondage outfit anywhere!" 

"Klaus, thank god." He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked over to the man just as Klaus pulled on the cigarette between his fingers and snipped away the ash at the tip right after. Diego hated it when he smoked. Then again smoking was at least legal. His pupils were blown wide right now as he was right in front of him.

"Hey, Baby!" Klaus drawled. "Did you miss me or why are you so happy to see me?"

"I need you to come with me, Klaus."

"Where?"

"Home."

"Please elaborate." Klaus snickered. " _ Your  _ home? The academy?  _ My  _ home? Because if you mean the latter I have to inform you that my home is currently a cardboard box behind a supermarket." He didn't even seem fazed by his own statement as if it meant nothing to him that he was homeless while it meant everything to Diego. "But I doubt that you meant my home." 

"Klaus, please just … come with me, okay?" It hurt seeing him like this. It hurt discussing these things with him. After all this time, all those years, he should be used to this conversation by now but he wasn’t. The wound was still fresh. It refused to heal. "It's important and I don't want to discuss this out here. It's cold and … Please. You know I wouldn't bother you if it wouldn't be important."

"Bother me," Klaus repeated mockingly, already glancing to the side again as if someone was standing right next to him. Only after a second of hesitation, he gave a nod and an annoyed eye roll. "Fine, fine. Stop pestering me, okay?" 

They started walking back to where Diego had parked his car and all the while Klaus was busy talking to thin air or greeting all kinds of weird-looking people, Diego was busy not to let it get to him how his brother looked. It pained him to see what became of Klaus over the better part of a year now. He had never been thinner, never been more sickly looking. Hell, he looked more like a ghost than a real human being. Knowing him, he was skipping meals just to feed his habit instead. 

His trusted old car still waited for him where he had left it. He had gotten it four years ago after he had been kicked out of the police academy and broke off things with Eudora. It was a good car, used, obviously and he had gotten it for a couple hundred bucks because he had needed to fix it up himself here and there. This first winter after the police academy had been a bitch. With no place to go and not a chance in the world that he would return to his father and admit his failure, he instead had slept in his car until he had met Al and started boxing at his gym for money. The passenger’s seat door was only to be opened from inside so Diego quickly scrambled inside and opened the door for Klaus.

As his brother sat next to him, he allowed a shiver to run through him at the change of temperature. Sure, it was cold inside the car but it was colder yet outside. "Have you eaten anything today?"

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" He scoffed. "Dee, as much as I enjoy talking to you, I need to get back and make some mula, okay?" 

"No … No that's what I wanted to talk to you about." The sigh that escaped him sounded a bit too close to the ones that he would usually get from Eudora for comfort. It was exhausting to deal with his adopted brother sometimes. Not that this would be new in any way. It was just Klaus being Klaus, right? No wonder their father had such a hard time dealing with his wayward son. Not that Sir would have been much of a father anyway. He had hated it when they would call him ‘Dad’ or ‘Father’. He had to be addressed by ‘Sir’ for the most part and that was still ingrained in Diego to this day. 

"We already had this discussion. My body my choice, Darling." 

"Can you be serious just once?"

"Like a heart attack." 

Diego allowed yet another long-suffering sigh to slip out and was already tired of his own reactions to the other man currently inside his car, before he fired up the engine and shifted his car into gear to pull out of his parking spot. "Haven't you heard about the murders?" 

"You mean the guys that were killed these past two months?" 

"Yes." 

"I mean … yeah, I heard about it but there wasn’t much to go around. People said that the bodies were mutilated and shit but other than this … police is keeping a lid on it as it seems."

"They were prostitutes," Diego muttered as he maneuvered his car down the road and aimed for the boxing gym in Soho. "They were all around the same age-range too. They were all in their late teens and early twenties. I mean, fuck, the youngest was  _ seventeen _ , Klaus. And they were all addicts as well."

"How do you know all this?"

"Patch."

"Oh!" Klaus laughed and gave a mock little applause. "Of course,  _ Patch _ . Didn't know you two were a thing again."

"We aren't." He growled. "Last night the fifth victim was found and I met her at the crime scene. She filled me in later."

"And why would she tell you all of this?" Out of the corner of his eye he watched how Klaus leaned back further in his seat and kicked his feet up on the dashboard. This was not new either and, under different circumstances, Diego would force him to take them down again. Right now, however, he couldn't care less. Klaus was alive. 

"She was worried and she wanted me to know so that … I … uhm-"

"So that you could have an eye on me in case the ripper wants a piece of this fine ass."

"That's not funny, Klaus." He growled once more. "Listen, Klaus, I just ask you to … I dunno … move in for a bit. I am not telling you to give up drugs or shit. We saw that this wouldn't work, after all, right? I'm just asking you to stay away from the streets for a bit, just until this monster was caught, okay?" 

"Oh, would you look at that? Someone’s worried!" Klaus chuckled. "Dee, for real, though. I am a big boy. I can look after myself just fine, okay?"

"God damn it!" He slammed his hands against the steering wheel in frustration as they stopped at a red light. "Yes! I am fucking worried about you, Klaus! I am terrified! When Eudora told me all this I could only think that I don't want you to be the next guy who is found in a fucking dumpster mutilated beyond recognition! So laugh all you want, but I am fucking scared for you!" 

Klaus actually seemed taken aback by his little outburst. He visibly shrunk in on himself in his seat. "Okay!" He breathed. "Okay, okay. Sorry, Dee. I’m sorry." 

He clamped his mouth shut otherwise they would have only started arguing again. Instead, he focused back on the road ahead. "So … Have you eaten?" He repeated his earlier question.

"You tell me." Klaus snickered and Diego rolled his eyes.

"We are stopping at Jerry's diner then."

"Oh, Dee, always taking such good care of me, Baby."

※※※※※※※

Klaus ate like a bird when they showed up at Jerry's. It was early enough for breakfast and although Diego himself wasn't all that hungry he had still ordered bacon and eggs for both of them. His body needed the energy after running around town like an idiot the entire day and night. He was tired but he already knew that he wouldn't get much rest. He still needed to mop the floors at Al's when they would have returned to the gym before Al would come to work and see that Diego hadn't done his job. 

In a way, Diego understood Klaus far better than anyone else ever could. He had been homeless too after the police academy and, in a way, he still was. Sure, he had a place to sleep at, a bed even, but the boiler room at the gym was not really a home, right? He was allowed to sleep there as long as he did custodial work for Al. It was nothing but alms. And why? Because he was too proud to return to his father and acknowledge his defeat even though he did exactly what his father had trained into him these days. By all means, Reggie should be proud.

Hell, he wasn't that much different than Luther, he supposed. He was still hanging after that dream of being a superhero just to find even a hint of purpose within himself. Because as long as he would manage to stop bad guys and save a few people along the way, his life wouldn't be completely wasted, right?

"Penny for your thoughts, big guy?" 

As Diego snapped back out of his thoughts, he found Klaus staring at him. The plate in front of the drug addict only half empty and the food on Diego's already cold. He dug in anyway.

"I was just thinking if we should return to the mansion." He sighed then though he already knew his adopted brother's opinion on the matter.

"Nope … not gonna happen. Besides I am persona non grata anyway since I stole that dagger to pawn off last year." 

"Klaus this is a very serious situation"

"And Reggie would have some serious things to say to me, I guess. In his eyes, it would be my own fault if I would become one of those victims. And, fuck, he would probably be right, right?" 

He had a point, of course. Reginald was exactly this kind of person who would claim that it was the victim's fault just for the profession they had. After all, it had been their own decisions leading them down this path, right? And it was Klaus' decision too. At least in Reggie's eyes. What Klaus said next, however, took him by surprise completely.

"And you shouldn't go back there either. You have a good thing going on with Al. Being back with Luther and Reggie wouldn't be good for you, Dee. And I would hate to see you so beaten down again by those two and their god complexes."

"Now who's worrying about whom, huh?"

"Never said I wouldn't worry about you." Klaus gave a shrug. "I hated it when you left in the middle of the night to beat up bad guys. I always wondered just when I would get the call that you've been shot or something."

He remembered Klaus bitching about his vigilante job but never had Klaus put it like this. It forced a small smile on Diego's lips. "Look at us. Took us only a serial killer to admit that we still care."

"Oh well, it was either gonna be a serial killer or the end of the world or something." Klaus laughed and in his eyes, Diego could see the hint of something else, something deeper - something that he had feared long forgotten and buried between them. The thought that it was still there scared him. Too much had happened. They had hurt each other too much. Ripped each other apart with teeth and claws and yet here they were. Together. Talking as if nothing had happened. Talking as if they wouldn't both already know what would happen as soon as they would get through the door of that boiler room apartment.

"Eat up. You’ll need your strength." Diego murmured and pointed his own forks accusingly at Klaus’ plate.

※※※※※※※

As soon as they were through the threshold of the boiler room door, Diego was shoved back against the wall. Every intention of just leaving the room right away again to take care of his custodial work, slipped from his mind entirely as Klaus held him where he was with his lips pressed against Diego’s. The door fell shut behind them. Now was the moment to step on the brakes, he thought but instead, Diego returned the kiss with just as much gusto as Klaus as he snaked his hands under the shoulders of Klaus’ jacket to slip it off and let it hit the floor.

Without breaking the kiss, Diego reached down, his hands barely brushing the other man’s thighs. He picked him up with ease with his own back still pressed into the wall, as he awkwardly pushed away from the wall. Klaus weighed nothing to him as his fellow ex-member of the Umbrella Academy threw his slim legs around his waist and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck for further support. His short nails were digging into Diego’s scalp as the kiss became even more heated. 

He was light as a feather anyway - had always been but now even more so. The thought bothered him greatly but he shoved it aside just like he shoved aside the thoughts about how Klaus was selling his body to the night every fucking day now. If he would make the mistake of imagining Klaus in some run-down motel room with a customer he would maybe even throw up. So instead, he forced his mind to go blank as he walked down the stairs awkwardly with Klaus’ added weight. 

He headed for the bed that he had pushed into the far corner of the small room with the dirty little curtain that he could pull across for added privacy. It was always comfortably warm down here and the memories he had tried to push far away from him in the past months, came back with a violent force now. Gracelessly, he dropped them both to the mattress but still conscious about not crushing Klaus with his own weight. 

He was like a wild animal as he let go of Klaus’ lips just to attack his neck - not that Klaus would mind that. His adopted brother Klaus had always understood him in a way that no one else ever had. Even in their teenage years, he had sometimes caught Klaus looking at him with hooded eyes and the realization that Klaus knew exactly what was going on inside Diego’s head and how he looked at Number Four when he thought Klaus wouldn't notice. The other boy had always been a tease. Even now as he tilted his head just slightly to give more room to Diego. 

They were in complete unison as if no time had passed since the last time they had seen each other. They were caught in this endless loop. Destined - cursed - to dance the same Tango over and over and over again since they had been mere children in a big dusty old house.

Diego reluctantly and slowly broke away from his brother’s throat for just long enough to get rid of his shirt and tossed it somewhere to the side. He didn't hesitate to reach for the hem of Klaus’ shirt next to tug it up, feeling his brother’s spine arch to help towards lifting it along his lean torso. He lifted himself just a little and watched as Klaus effortlessly pulled the fabric from his body. It landed on a pile right on top of Diego’s own shirt, before Klaus got comfortable again, left now only in his black jeans with the zig-zag laces on the sides from hip to ankle. 

A soft smile graced his lips as he leaned back down and pressed his mouth in an open kiss between Number Four’s collarbones, pressing another slightly lower before continuing his descent. He ignored the way his ribs stood out against his skin, ignored the sharpness to his body as he moved down the valleys and hills of Klaus’ torso, down his beautifully smooth stomach and abdomen and then lower against his navel.

He paused there, kissing and pressing his tongue against the deadly pale skin - noting briefly to himself how much he missed his brother’s natural tan that he always seemed to lose in the colder months of the year. His lover’s soft pants reached his ears, his breathing heavier and his green eyes hooded as their eyes met. He took his time as he slowly wandered back up again the path he had just paved for himself and enjoyed the way his brother was squirming underneath him - banishing thoughts of other men having their way with Klaus without taking the effort of making it good for him too. Not that Klaus wouldn't like rough sex. Diego knew him well enough to know this. 

"You’re beautiful." He whispered as he reached his mouth again, pulling his tongue across Klaus’ bottom lip before biting down almost a bit too harshly. "Never let anyone tell you otherwise." 

Klaus’ mouth knocked against his own in a breathy stumble. Not out of joy over these words. Not out of love. Diego knew not to make the mistake to believe something like this. It was Klaus’ way of shutting him up, of hindering him to say things like these when the whole entire world was set out to make him feel worthless and ugly. The Séance had always been fragile in this way. Always just wrong word away from shattering - never willing to show it. Klaus’ hands reached around him to tug roughly at Diego’s short hair and the resulting sound that left Diego’s throat could have been mistaken for a growl before his brother drew him back into a heated kiss.

Diego shifted his legs apart, forcing Klaus’ slightly wider as they were hooked over his strong thighs, and he eagerly complied, letting him. He rolled his hips slowly against his brother’s through their jeans, feeling him press against him and bite his tongue and then lip. He did it again, rocking against the smaller man as Klaus' nails dug into his scalp.

He was burning up with every bit of movement, his jeans too tight, his boots too heavy. The desire to feel Klaus’ skin - all of his skin - against his own unbearable at this point. His hand roamed his brother’s stomach and side, gradually lowering on his waist until it reached the hem of his jeans and just stayed there for the moment, fingers toying with the fabric before he reluctantly broke the kiss. 

"Clothes," Diego muttered breathlessly against his brother’s lips. Suddenly, he was a stupid teenager again, too eager for the bliss of sex than to allow himself more time to play. He had always been impatient. Eudora had called it his greatest flaw. Klaus, on the other hand, just grinned as Diego quickly rose to his feet to strip off his boots, socks, and jeans as quickly as he could. Some might say he was in a hurry as if he was afraid to miss his chance if he would take too much time. 

He watched Klaus struggle just a little with his own pants - for show, mostly. So, as Klaus had pushed down his pants barely enough to give Diego a hint of what lay beneath it, his sharp hip bones sticking out like a warning sign, Diego produced another low growl as he reaches out, grabbed both ends of Klaus’ pants legs and pulled. He had freed his brother in a matter of seconds. Of course, Klaus wasn’t wearing any underwear. There were reasons for this that Diego didn’t want to think about right now.

The smug smirk on his brother’s face as Diego just stood there and admired him, was victorious. Seconds later, he had gotten rid of his boxer shorts too and felt his brother’s warm body press completely against his own. At last, they were connected from head to toe, their skin against each other as if their bodies wanted to melt into each other. And fuck, that was exactly what Diego wanted. He wanted to lock Klaus up in this tiny room. He wanted to chain him to his bed. He wanted to make sure he was safe down here. But Klaus was a wild cat and Diego was not stupid enough to try and tame him again. 

Diego reached over to the small bedside table which he had found on the bulk waste once and pulled the drawer open. He rifled through it blindly until he found a square wrapper and bottle of lube, grabbing them and swiftly closing the drawer. He almost dropped the bottle as Klaus took the wrapper from him and tore it open with his teeth. 

They had danced this tango numerous times in the past and still, he couldn't stifle a moan as Klaus reached down between them to expertly roll the condom down Diego’s hard cock. There was no discussion to be held about this either. As much as he would love to come inside him without the condom on, there was no chance he would fuck Klaus without a condom on either. Not anymore, at least. Although he remembered a time when he clearly had not cared. But that was years ago and he had been nothing more than a stupid teenager and Klaus the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. Well, not much had changed in that regard, he assumed as he pushed his brother’s thighs apart once more, Klaus’ legs now resting over his own as he drew a wicked little grin from the junkie. 

Diego worked quickly as he uncapped the bottle and spread some lube over his fingers, lowering his hand and watching Klaus’ face carefully as he slid two fingers inside to let them sink in as deep as they would go. It was easy - much easier than he recalled - and he hated the thought that came with this realization. Still, he watched Klaus’ eyes close slowly, his bottom lip being drawn between his teeth to bite as Klaus’ slender hands lightly gripped the pillow underneath his head. 

"You don't need to be so gentle." He could barely speak without his voice wavering just slightly. "You know I like it rough." 

Deciding to hold off on questions, for now, he started to pump his fingers in and out in smooth strokes, curling and twisting them when they were deep and splaying them apart on the way out. Klaus’ body tensed a few times during his ministrations, the bigger man feeling him roll his hips softly with each stroke of his fingers and close around them when he curled his digits here and there. His brother had begun panting softly at some point, his voice lacing the sounds. After a moment, he drew his fingers back, feeling him close around his fingers softly before he added a third, pressing tighter against the warm insides.

Klaus squirmed and writhed as soon as he curled his fingers, massaging his walls and twisting his fingers carefully while he gazed down on him, almost dazed with how thick the heat and pheromones were as they melted into the walls, bed and everything else in the room. He smiled softly at his brother, his ears focusing on the audible gasps and soft moans, the pressure clearly building in him.

How many men had seen him like this? How many more would come to see him like this? How many men cared to make him feel good in this way? How many just took what they wanted?

He stroked a few more times, his pace getting only a fraction faster before the other’s spine arched. Klaus pressed against his fingers and clamped around them tightly. He was always unable to stay still - had always been unable to stay still, his body always in motion, never pausing, never slowing. Even now he was squirming before he wrapped his pale legs around Diego’s own narrow hips with a tight grip.

The sight was breathtaking, leaving Diego burning up inside. His heart was racing - so much so that he felt as though his heart would break a rib or two.

After a moment, he reluctantly pulled his hand back, feeling his brother relax some as he withdrew. He lifted himself onto his heels and took a deep breath before glancing up at Klaus, their gaze locking once he realized that he had been staring back at him, lust clear in his gaze.

He reached out for the bottle again and lathered himself quickly before he shifted to lean up over his lover, his thighs spreading the other’s further apart. Klaus returned his desperate kiss as Diego searched his lips once more while he aligned himself and gradually pressed his hips forwards, feeling minimal pushback as the head of his shaft smoothly was inserted. Forgotten was the heartbreak of the past. Forgotten were the tears and the screaming. Forgotten was the fights and the long nights alone and in fear. Just for a moment, though. Just for the time, they were reunited.

Diego carefully continued pressing his hips against his brother’s. He forced himself to go slow and easy with him at first. He knew that Klaus could take it, but they weren’t animals, nor did he want to hurt him. He wasn’t like the other men. He was Klaus’ safe haven. If nothing else, at least he could be that. 

"Stop thinking." Diego blinked from his thoughts, gazing down at his brother. While his own hands rested against the bed to each side of Klaus’ head, Number Four’s fingers were threading through the short hair at the base of Diego’s neck - gripping and pulling ever so gently. A safe haven. 

By the time he shrugged his unhelpful thoughts off, they were completely aligned, Diego sheathed as far as he could, and Klaus holding on with his nails still in his hair. They were pressed together, wrapped entirely in each other's warmth and Diego would never want it to be any different. Locking him up became more and more desirable. 

For a moment, he stayed still and allowed the junkie in his bed to adjust before he pulled his hips back slowly and then pressed them back in. Klaus’ body only closed tighter around him at this as he hooked his legs along his upper thighs. He felt Klaus’ heavy sigh against his lips as they brushed again - unable to stop connecting.

He did it again, pressing in as deep as he could and pulling back only to stroke back inside of Klaus, hearing a repeat of that same lovely sound that could send his whole world into turmoil at once.

Diego pressed his mouth against his brother’s neck, as Klaus dropped his head back against the pillow, his back arching against his body as he continued thrusting slowly, rolling his pelvis smoothly. Warmth burned in the pit of his stomach and groin, having built over time and continued to do so. He started picking up the pace, his own impatience getting the better of him once more - thrusting a fraction faster and sliding deeper.

Klaus’ gasps soon turned into deep moans with his thrusts only gradually getting faster and deeper, slipping further in with every few strokes. Klaus’ legs tightened around his hips, drawing his pelvis in closer and forcing him that much deeper. Diego had been breathing heavily along with him, gasping for breath like a fish on land whenever Klaus closed harder around his aching cock.

Diego closed his eyes, his mouth still pressed against Klaus’ neck, panting against his skin. Each strong and heavy rock and snap of his hips forced him to bury himself deep, the light sweat and lube shared between them making it easier to gain more speed. His lover was writhing and gasping beneath him, his nails stuck in his skin and dragging, drawing red lines down his back now.

He groaned deeply when he felt Klaus’ lower waist lift every time he rolled forward, meeting him halfway and feeling the hard contact as he got faster and harder. The sounds of their bodies slapping against each other, the deep immoral moans he - only he - was able to draw out of his brother’s throat soon filled the entire room as the heat between them continued to build and build - soon desperate to find a way to get out. Diego’s fingers were clutching the sheets beside his brother’s head and, not a moment later, Klaus’ joined his, snaking up between them to dig his claws into Diego’s forearms until he managed to entangled their fingers completely. 

He opened his eyes and lifted his head to gaze at Klaus’, his brother’s eyes glazed over and completely clouded by his lust. He brought their faces together slowly, forehead to forehead - unable to break their eye contact now as Klaus looked at him again as if he had hung the moon and the stars in the sky. Before Diego could lean down to kiss him, Klaus leaned up, butting their heads together and lips clashing in a strong, passionate kiss, mouths locked together tightly.

Hot sparks shot through his body, spreading and rushing through his veins, heat building and putting pressure on his groin with a knot tightening and tightening in the very base of his stomach, searing through him. He arched hard against his brother and forced himself as deep as he could go, feeling the walls tighten up around him. Klaus’ gasps turned into loud moans and short cries of pleasure - the sounds almost swallowed by their kiss.

Diego felt too hot and all the built-up pressure forced him over the edge, his thrusts short and fast, but deep and heavy. A deep, lingering groan left his chest and vibrated through him as he spilled inside of his lover. His brother tightened up around him, locking him in place and arching with a deep whine, white spurting from him and landing over his own abdomen.

He absentmindedly continued to thrust through their highs of bliss with stinging pleasure even after their orgasms, but they were slow, soft, just simple - riding out his orgasm.

He came to a stop gradually and remained on top of Klaus for just a second longer to catch his breath before he reluctantly forced himself up on all fours and pulled out of Klaus. He never broke their eye contact, though, desperate to keep their eyes locked now - afraid almost, that Klaus would just vanish if he would look away even for a second. 

"Oh, Jesus!" Klaus groaned and watched with heavy eyelids how Diego slowly sat down on the edge of the bed to get rid of the used condom, tying it up neatly and throwing it with as much precision as one of his knives across the room into his waste bin. "That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen." Klaus chuckled and in turn, made Diego laugh as well. 

"Hey … If you wanna take a shower or something … You can use the showers upstairs in the gym."

"I’m good." Klaus hummed and just stretched luxuriously like a cat before turning on his side. Diego gave a flustered little nod and just as he was about to stand up and get dressed to do the work Al more or less paid him for, Klaus quickly took a hold of his left wrist. "Stay?" 

It was hard to refuse Klaus anything. It had always been like this and it would probably forever stay like this and Diego had never been able to do it before in his life. Why would he suddenly grow a spine now? It was impossible. The way Klaus laid there. The way he looked at Diego. The way his green eyes glistened in the dim light of the boiler room. 

The floors upstairs were not that dirty, right? Surely, the showers could wait a few more hours to be scrubbed clean, right? Fuck. He was going down the same old rabbit hole again. He could already feel it. He knew that this wasn't good. He knew that he should be a stronger man, a bigger man, a tougher man. He should grow a spine and just go upstairs to do his job. Instead, he sat back down with a little groan and then climbed into bed next to Klaus. Immediately, his brother wrapped his arms around his middle, his head cushioned on Diego’s chest.

The lights were still on and the lightswitch all across the room. He didn't feel like getting up again. Instead, he just grabbed the stupid little stress ball Al had once given him from his nightstand and threw it against the light switch. Blissful darkness surrounded them immediately and Klaus gave another little chuckle. 

"Hey, Diego?" He muttered after a while into the darkness.

"Yeah?" A part of him was afraid of whatever Klaus was about to say now. Klaus’ words had always had the potential to make him feel like he was on top of the world or crush him into a pile of dust in an instant. There was no in-between.

"I love you." His heart was aching inside his chest and a part of him just wanted to die. "You know that's true, right?"

"Yeah." He sighed after a moment or two. "I love you too."

And that was the real problem in all of this mess.

**-End of Chapter 2-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill, weekly uploads from here on!


	3. Chapter 3

Diego woke up to a meaty fist hammering against the metal door that led into the boiler room. The first thing he noticed other than the steam-hammer against his door was the noise coming from the gym above his head. It was already in full swing. Fuck. The second thing he noticed was that the space next to him was empty and cold. No trace left of the beautiful body that had been lying there earlier. Klaus had left again. He knew this even before he found the note that Klaus had left him on the bedside table. He could feel that he had not simply left the room to take a shower or go eat or buy drugs. He was gone again. Like a ghost.

"Hargreeves!" Al’s distinctive voice came bellowing through the closed door. "Get your ass up here, Boy!"

"Coming!" He yelled back as he quickly got out of bed and at least had enough wit left about him to jump in last night's boxer shorts before he made his way up the steps and to the door to open it. "Sorry, Al … I think I overslept. Feel a bit sick." 

"Sick?" Al asked with raised brows as he took in the sight before him - namely the state of undress Diego was in as well as the bags under his eyes. Well, the night had been a short one for him. As he glanced discreetly at Al’s wristwatch he noticed that it was already half-past ten in the morning. The gym had just opened its doors for the day. 

"Yeah … I dunno. I was out all night, looking for my brother."

"Klaus?" Al scoffed but something in his gaze softened as he looked at Diego now. His anger slowly dissipating by some miracle and Diego decided that it would be best to play right into this. Despite Al’s tough-guy demeanor and all the shouting, he could be just as big of a softy. Al had made his career in boxing, a young orphaned boy who had been given a chance by someone just like he was now. It had been his dream to give back the same kindness that this man had shown him all those years ago. That was, in the end, what had prompted Al to give Diego a chance and allow him to sleep down here. That was also why he allowed Klaus to crash down here when it would come to it.

"Yeah…" He repeated and dragged a hand over his face. "You've heard about those murders, have you?"

"Sure."

"I was … The other night another one was found and I was just … worried. I wanted to see if he was okay."

"Did you find him?" Al sounded honestly curious now, perhaps even worried. Sure, he would bitch about Klaus whenever his brother would drop by, he would even tell Diego to put down his foot and not allow Klaus to walk all over him again and again but, in the end, he cared.

"I did. He’s okay." Al’s posture relaxed ever so slightly. "But he didn't want to come with me, so … yeah."

"I’m sorry, Diego." Al sighed and he sounded honest. "It's hard to have a brother who got so lost in life, right? My own brother, Jessy, started a life of crime early - after our Mom died and the old man bailed on us. He will spend the rest of his days in prison for the crimes he committed. But still, they are our brothers and we still care, right?"

"I guess so." Diego then sighed. He had won the war. "Anyway … I spent all night looking for him and when I got back I thought I would have an hour or so to sleep at least."

"No, it's fine." Al shrugged. "It's fine. I get it. With all those killings - it's natural that you want to make sure your little brother is okay. Just, get ready and get to work now, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Al." His boss nodded again before turning back around and leaving the boiler room for good. Diego felt almost guilty about lying to him as he walked back down to get dressed. Yesterday's clothes were good enough for his custodial work and he would change soon into his work out clothes anyway. First, however, he grabbed the note that Klaus had left him in this messy handwriting of his. Klaus had always had the worst handwriting of them all - rivaled only by Five.

"I’m sorry, Diego." The note read. "We both know that this was a bad idea. I appreciate your worry. Come check in with me every day at Griddy’s at noon if you want to - to make sure I’m still alive, I guess. Always yours, Klaus." He had even scribbled a messy heart on it. His teenage self would have loved the heart but right now he just felt bitter anger wash over him. Klaus was right, that was the worst about it. They had tried this before and it had ended in heartbreak for both of them. It would do them no good if they would try it again and again. The definition of insanity is to do something over and over again the exact same way and yet expect different results. 

※※※※※※※

"Diego, you know I can't tell you these things." Eudora looked at him as if he was a cockroach in her freshly cleaned kitchen or a spider over her bed. And yet, she didn't shoo him away as Diego sat down at her desk and crossed his legs, making himself at home as he had done numerous times before. 

"Come on, Eudora." He sighed. "I want to help and this situation keeps me up at night, okay?"

"The only thing keeping you up at night is your vigilante-ism."

"You know what I mean, Patch. Come on. I … You know what I mean." 

She gave a deep sigh at this statement and leaned back in her chair. Her dark blue uniform made her look even more unapproachable. "Klaus." It was said as a statement and Diego only gave a short nod in response. 

Klaus had always been a topic between them ever since they got to know each other, ever since Eudora had learned who he was. Back then, as they first met in the police academy, Eudora had been the only one who knew who he was and didn't make fun of him or dared him to prove his powers. He had admired her in so many ways back then. He had admired her resilience and bravery. It was not easy to go through police training as a woman - or in general. But Eudora had had this sense of determination about herself that was so rare these days. When he had met her back then, a freshly-faces teenager, barely eighteen years old, he had thought:  _ That's it. That's the one _ . And, at the same time, he had known that life wouldn't be so easy.

Maybe their relationship could have worked if Diego had not had this history with Klaus. Eudora was one of the very few people that knew about it. It had been inevitable. A part of him regretted that he had told her, in the first place. But, at the moment, Diego had needed a shoulder to lean onto, someone to confide in, someone he thought would be understanding and gentle. Eudora had been all this and more at the moment he told her. And then she had met Klaus and she had known that Diego and she would never have a future. Not too long after, he had been kicked out of the academy and that, in the end, had led to the downfall of their relationship.

"Listen … I can't … I need to make sure he’s safe out there." Her expression shifted again - ever so slightly, barely even noticeable to others. He could read pain in her dark eyes, even as she looked away. He was the cause of this pain and he knew it. He hated it. But it was what it was and he couldn't take it back. He had not been the only one of them who had hoped that they would become something more, that their relationship was meant to last forever. "And for that, I want to help find that monster." 

"If you want to make sure he’s safe, Diego, you need to get him off the streets and off his drugs." How many times before had they had this conversation? Even before she had met Klaus for the first time, she had told him all of that. "If you want him safe you make him go into rehab and stay there and stay clean this go around. If you want to make sure he’s safe, you go home and ask your father and brother for help. I know you don't wanna hear that, Diego, but it's what a responsible person would do." 

"So, in other words, you are not going to give me anything?"

She let out another one of those deep-suffering sighs and the vein on her forehead began pulsating. She had once told him that she had named her migraine after him because it tended to come at the same time as he would - though it would not leave with him. A second or two passed but when she leaned closer, he knew that he had won.

"So, okay. We’ve interrogated the people who saw the victims last, right? We didn't get much but a few of those told us about a man - a customer - and they described him all very similarly." 

"Well, that's great!"

"Sure. Thing is, the way they described him he could be  _ anyone _ . I mean, sure those guys tend to be very observant and have a good eye for faces and stuff like this but the guy is some everyday Joe Schmoe according to them." She leaned back in her chair again with a little creak. He wondered when she would make detective. Eudora was intelligent. She would probably shoot through the ranks quickly. Then she would get a chair that was a bit more comfortable and would not creak with every movement of hers. "I’ll give you a copy of the sketch but I can't do much more for you, Diego. The boys we asked said that the guy obviously tried not to draw attention - but that's normal, right? Most of their customers don't want to be recognized by people they might know. Plus, just because they saw the victims with the same guy - if it was the same guy - that too doesn't need to mean anything."

"Thanks, Patch."

"Just one more thing, Diego. And this needs to stay under wraps. You’ll talk to no one about this, you hear me?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Good. Keep it that way. Preferably forever." He rolled his eyes. "The killer took his victims approximately around seven days before they were found. He spent those seven days torturing, beating, and raping them before killing them shortly before he disposed of them. So, he will have a secret location where he can do all of this and he probably lives a normal life to the outside world in the meantime." 

He felt his heart sink at her words but Eudora didn't give him a chance to say anything stupid again as she took her copy of the sketch and gave it to him. 

"Thank you." He muttered before he got back to his feet.

"Diego … I meant what I said. If you want to help him, you need to take action. You can no longer be a coward." The look she gave him next had lost a bit of the stealy quality from before. There was a softness around the edges now. "And yes, he will be angry and he might hate you for it, but if you won’t do anything, you  _ will  _ see him on a metal slab rather sooner than later. And then you will wish that he would still be around to hate you." 

※※※※※※※

For the third day in a row, Diego arrived at Griddy’s doughnuts just as the clock turned twelve and like the last two days, Klaus already sat at the counter talking to Agnes, the elderly waitress, who never failed to coo over the young man. Well, Klaus was charming when he wanted to be and he wanted to be charming whenever this meant he would get something for free - like the donut on the plate before him.

With a sigh, Diego sunk on the barstool next to his brother, pulled his plate over, and took a bite of the sweet treat. Strawberry jam. Yummy. "Hey! No fair!" Klaus immediately lamented but Agnes, behind the counter only gave a small laugh in response and already came over to Diego with an empty mug. 

"Coffee, Dear?" She smiled and as Diego nodded she filled up his mug and patted his hand on the counter almost lovingly. Oh, they had always adored Agnes. This woman had pretty much seen them grow up over the years. So often the siblings had snuck out of the house to come over and have a few donuts late at night. Their visits to the shop had always been accompanied by much noise and shenanigans. 

"So, Diego-dear" Klaus sang-song as he turned on his chair to face him and quickly took another bite from his donut before Diego could steal again. "what’s new?"

"You look like a sewer." 

"That's not new. Besides, people call it fashion."

"People call it: time to take a bath." Diego scoffed and shook his head before he reached over and dragged his fingers through Klaus’ unwashed hair. It was greasy and not at all a hot look at his brother. Underneath all of this a certain beauty was hidden that had yet to be matched by anyone Diego would meet. Klaus was like a rose in the dirt - sometimes. "Jesus, Klaus! You need a shower or something. Come to the gym at least! You can shower there. Al is cool with that."

"Dee-"

"I want to take care of you, okay? Let me."

"It's a dumb idea."

"It's just a shower." 

The shower had been a bad idea. Al always closed the gym for about an hour at noon to go have lunch so they were alone in there as they walked in through the backdoor and towards the showers. He had planned on waiting outside for Klaus or at least in the locker room and still, he found himself pressed against the tiles of the shower room, hot water spraying him as his brother kneeled before him. Klaus’ tongue was wicked and his mouth sweeter as sin. 

It was a bad idea.

Diego watched with widening eyes, lips parting as Klaus’ mouth stretched around him. The sight would never fail to amaze him - the wet, pale upper lip, dimples creasing Klaus’ cheeks. The brows got him more than anything, probably - all furrowed and studious.

"Klaus." He gasped, more like a warning - not that Klaus would care. He just hummed in acknowledgment around Diego's girth and started moving the hand he had placed at the base of Diego’s cock in turn with his mouth, swallowing and repeatedly lowering his mouth onto Diego to drive him insane. 

"Fuck!" He struggled to keep his balance on the slippery tiles of the shower as he placed his right hand on the crown of his lover’s head, carding his fingers through wet curls. Klaus looked up at Diego as he pushed himself down further than he had gone before, lips practically resting around the base of the Kraken’s cock as his eyes watered at the friction against the back of his throat. 

Klaus let his hand glide from Diego's hip and down his thigh, gripping him just above his knee as he made wet, slick sounds - Now almost frantic as he was sucking him off. 

"Stop I ... I’m really close." His voice was dark with lust, panting and rasping as he tugged on Klaus’s hair with his other hand.

Klaus pulled off for a split second, but only enough to mumble out "I'm not stopping, you can just come in my mouth" through numb lips before wrapping his lips back around the head of Diego’s throbbing cock. He was catapulted back to the first time Klaus had blown him for a split second there. He remembered them pulling the blanket over their heads as they hid out in Diego’s bed - barely fifteen years old and horny as hell. The way Klaus brushed his palms over Diego's balls and then cupped them lightly as he began bobbing his head was expertly - the thought of how many men had been able to enjoy this for the right price made his stomach turn - bright green eyes glancing up at Diego as he smirked around the girth.

He knew that Klaus was high. He had seen it right as he had met him at Griddy’s.

Diego was going to argue his brother, but he was already so close. His fingers were tightening in Klaus’ hair, holding him down as Diego’s body locked and arched, still pressed into the tiles almost uncomfortably as he choked off a gasp, cum filling his brother’s mouth. Klaus groaned as the hot liquid filled his mouth but not at all as if he thought it unpleasant in the slightest. He made a show of releasing Diego’s cock, just a little of his brother’s release escaping his greedy lips as he swallowed visibly everything that Diego had offered him. 

"This was a bad idea." Diego hummed as Klaus lifted himself to his feet again. 

"I told you so." Klaus huffed and pressed his lips against those of his brother. He could still taste the lingering sharpness and bitterness of his own release on Klaus’ tongue and yet he didn't find it in himself to care.

They sat together later on a bench near the boxing ring. Diego had already changed into his work out clothes and had his gloves ready next to him. Klaus smelled heavenly of Diego’s own shower gel and he didn't want it any other way. All he wanted was to have Klaus use his shower gel and shampoo and see him wear his clothes, lie in his bed - be a part of his world. No, not just a  _ part _ . The center. He was the sun, Diego was orbiting around. He watched his brother lacing up his sneakers, ready to head out again after his shower and the apple Diego had given him. He needed his brother to eat even if it was just an apple. 

"Hey … You wanna come and watch my fight later?" Diego broke the silence as he pointed to the poster on the wall. ‘The Kraken vs. The Hammer’. Someone needed a better stage name and that was not Diego. 

"Can't." Klaus sighed and took a bite out of his apple. "Work." 

Eudora was right, he was a coward. Otherwise, he would demand Klaus to stay with him and get help. Instead, he only gave a little nod. He didn't like hearing about Klaus’ work. "I talked to Patch today."

"Oh?" He didn't sound the least bit surprised or concerned.

"She told me a bit about the killer and stuff."

"Juicy details?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged. Klaus still didn't seem to take any of this seriously. He was Icarus and he was about to fly too close to the sun. "The killer keeps his victims for approximately seven days. He tortures, beats and rapes them before killing them." 

Klaus was silent for a second, almost as if he finally considered Diego’s words and the danger that was lurking out there in the shadows, before biting off another piece of apple. "How does he kill them?"

"He slits their throats. One of the victims was almost decapitated."

"Kinky."

"Klaus." 

"Sorry! Sorry, dead hookers I know. Tragic."

"Well, if you're not careful you might be the next dead hooker so take this more seriously."

"Dee…" He sighed before getting up. "Have to go. A customer is waiting." As if it was normal, as if Klaus had told him he was just going to run an errand or go to his completely normal office job, Klaus leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. A promise to return, almost as if they were a couple, almost as if this was real. 

Diego didn't say anything as he watched him leave. Only when he heard the back door closing he breathed a heavy sigh. "Be safe."

※※※※※※※

One hit after the other rained down upon him as Diego held his arms protectively over his head. That man, Jason ‘The Hammer’ Thatch, was no real match, so he decided to humor him in allowing him a few hits before he would inevitably come back out on top like he always did. Thatch was certainly no Luther Hargreeves. Most men he fought weren’t and most men that were slightly bigger than the Kraken thought they would have an easy time fighting him. They failed to acknowledge his agility and endurance. Some of them knew who he was and teased him about not having knives at his disposal or anything else he might be able to throw at them but all regretted it not much later.

As Jason got tired from throwing punch after punch against Diego’s head to no avail, he jumped back a step and proceeded to hop from one foot to the other like a child who just started out boxing and didn't know what he was doing and that he was only tiring himself out now. It was then, as Diego spat out a bit of blood from the one punch that had landed against his jaw, that he noticed a familiar face in the crowd of jeering onlookers who had bet on the fight.

Klaus just stood there with admiration in his eyes and a wicked little grin playing on his face - and a bruise on his jaw, a split lip. He wanted to jump out of the ring and ask his brother what happened but then Thatch made the mistake of a lifetime in mocking him.

"Are you giving up, Fag?" 

Well, needless to say, he would not call someone this word again for a good few weeks, after Diego broke his jaw right afterward and send him sprawled out on the mat in a clear K.O.

"That was HOT!" Klaus laughed as Diego climbed out of the ring and found his brother right in his face, Klaus’ slim arms wrapping around him like no one was around to see it. Diego just huffed in amusement and patted his head awkwardly, very much aware of the looks they garnered for their behavior before Klaus untangled himself from Diego again. 

Now that they were face to face, he had time to see the full-extent of Klaus’ injuries. It didn't look too bad, he assumed, all things considered, and although he knew that in Klaus’ world it was not uncommon to get punched by a John from time to time, it drove him mad. Klaus shouldn't be out there getting punched by a fucking customer and he shouldn't look at him like he hung the moon and the stars in the sky - completely high off his ass. 

"The way you knocked this loser out! Jesus, Dee! That was brilliant!"

"He’s an amateur." Diego shrugged and patted his shoulder to make Klaus follow him to Al who would give him the money he earned tonight. "It wasn’t that hard at all." Klaus skipped along beside him like a fucking schoolgirl on LSD. Well, he probably was on LSD right now. 

"So, what do I get as a price?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, clearly I am your lucky charm, your cheerleader if you will. What do I get out of  _ our  _ win?" 

Al clasped Diego on the shoulder as they reached him and gave Klaus a wary look. Al didn't like Klaus much despite not knowing the full story or extent of their messed-up little relationship. He just knew that Klaus and Diego had quite the bad fallout and that Diego had been hurt by it like a dog. 

"You’ll get a warm place to sleep tonight."

"Oh, jolly!" Klaus laughed as Al handed Diego the money. The look Klaus gave the money in Diego’s hand didn't escape the other Hargreeves boy. With a sigh, he plucked fifty bucks from his earnings and shoved them without a word in the pocket of Klaus’ tattered jacket. Al just shook his head at the sight and left them muttering a soft ‘Kids’ under his breath.

※※※※※※※

As day six rolled around Diego was running late on his way to Griddy’s. A new rain front had hit the city with vigor and Diego was drenched to the core as he stumbled through the door of the donut shop. Agnes was behind the counter as usual, her smile friendly and wide. Klaus was not here yet. Usually, he arrived before Diego. After all, his brother didn't have much else to do. 

"Hello, Dear!" Agnes smiled as Diego slid onto the usual barstool at the counter before she filled a cup of coffee unprompted by now. 

"Hey, Agnes." He replied friendly before taking a sip of his coffee. He needed that. Outside it was cold and he wanted to change into something dry and warm. No matter what Klaus would say, he would force him to stay at his place until the rain would stop again. 

"Your brother is running late today, huh?"

"He was never great at being on time to anything, really." 

However, as time ticked by, Diego started to become more and more uneasy. Sure, Klaus was known to be not very reliable but he had never been late to their daily meetings here since they started. He had honored their arrangement and taken it seriously because, if nothing else, it would show the killer that Klaus had someone who would miss him if he was stalking Klaus perhaps.  _ If  _ the killer was stalking his victims, of course, and not randomly picking them.

Half an hour went by and still no sign of his brother, yet Diego always flinched and shot a look over his shoulder when he heard the bell over the door chime whenever a new customer came in. He kept waiting there, watching the clock tick by. An hour went by and no sign of Klaus. Two hours and still no sign of his brother. Agnes had already started shooting him concerned looks.

After two hours, Diego got up and paid for his coffee. His clothes were more or less dry again. "I’m sure he’s okay, Dear." Agnes smiled and brushed a comforting hand over his arm.

"Yeah … He probably just forgot." 

He didn't forget. Diego knew that his brother had not simply forgotten their meeting. Something had happened. It didn't need to be the killer, of course. There were tons of things that could go wrong in Klaus’ field of work, right? What if a customer had beat him up or something? What if he had an overdose? He was expected back by Al in half an hour but instead of going back to the gym, Diego decided to start searching for his brother. 

He already knew that he wouldn't find him. It was a sick little feeling in the pit of his stomach, twisting and turning like a snake. 

He knew that he wouldn't find his brother in the streets.

**-End of Chapter 3-**


	4. Chapter 4

**Day 2**

Klaus was missing. There was no way around it. He could spend as much time as he wanted to try to find him to no avail. He asked everyone who could possibly know about Klaus on the streets but no one seemed to have seen him. He went from one dingy nightclub to the next, from one drug den to the other but his brother was nowhere to be found. The last time Klaus had been seen by anyone, he had walked off with a customer. 

Twelve hours later - twelve hours, after Diego had ditched all his responsibilities to start his search around the city - Diego found himself at the door of the academy. His hand was trembling as he reached for the doorknob. He had not set foot into this house for four years now. He had left this house as soon as he had turned seventeen to start his own life and get away from all this mess. Hell, he had even tried to get away from Klaus the day he had left. 

For a year, he had tried to make it on his own, volunteered at the police for ride alongs and worked three jobs before he had started his official training at the police academy where he had met Eudora. Starting his training, meeting Eudora … it had felt like fate had willed it so. A new beginning, a new life, a new identity. Finally, he had not just been Diego ‘The Kraken’ Hargreeves anymore. And Eudora had felt real in a way Klaus never had and still, they had not worked out - still, everything had fallen apart. 

Ever since he had left this house he had done everything in his power to never return. He had slept in strange places much like Klaus, had found residence with friends and girlfriends for a few odd weeks or months here and there, later he had lived in the academy and then in his car. Everything just so that he would never need to come back again. His pride wouldn't have allowed him to return home with his tail between his legs anyway. 

But his pride had not been the only thing keeping him from returning home back then. The memories of growing up in this awful building had left there marks on his very soul. He might not be as outwardly tortured as Klaus was but … Well, the only motherly figure in his life whom he loved with all his heart, was a robot. And if that didn't say enough about his marred psyche… 

Diego Hargreeves felt foolish as he hovered at the imposing front door of the Umbrella Academy, the stone lions on both sides of the door staring at him in disapproval like his father used to do. Lingering here, he could almost hear the sound of children running through those maze-like halls. He took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob firmly and twisted. 

As he opened the door and set foot inside now, it felt like he was admitting his defeat in some weird way. An odd sensation of grief washed over him as he proceeded to walk into the reception hall, his footsteps echoing from the high wood-paneled walls around. He took a moment to steady himself as he just stood there and took it all in - the smells, the sounds, the dust particles dancing in the sunlight that softly filtered in through the high windows across from the door. It was all too much for a second. He was hit with a steam-hammer - just by those little sounds that the house made as the beams creaked and the house settled around the intruder. 

"Master Diego!" A familiar voice suddenly greeted him - probably not the only inhabitant of the house who was already aware of the presence of someone else inside the building this early in the day. He found Pogo just like he remembered him as he turned to look to the doorway leading into the parlor. He looked a bit older now, a bit greyer, walking more hunched over on his little cane. As Diego turned around to face him fully, Pogo’s face split into a soft smile and he rested both his hands on the cane he rested his weight on. "What a lovely surprise. What brings you here?" 

"I need to talk to Luther," Diego replied quickly with not much time to spare for pleasantries - not that Pogo would be surprised by his behavior. Diego had never been one for small talk, after all. He was far less social than Klaus had ever been and far less polite than all his other siblings. "Is he here?" 

"Of course." Pogo said. Yes, of course, Diego thought. Luther had never left this house except for missions. He was the ever obedient child of the family, after all. What reason could he even have for leaving the house? A girlfriend? Certainly not. Diego was not one to pry but Luther’s infatuation with Allison had always been obvious. He could only assume that his brother’s heart had broken into a million tiny pieces when he had read about the engagement last spring. It would be a summer wedding next year. A child would soon follow, knowing his sister. After Allison had left Luther here, Diego was sure that, in Luther’s mind, he had everything he could possibly need right here. "He’s in the gym." 

"Thanks." Diego immediately turned back around to hurry in the direction of the gym, as Pogo called out to him again.

"Master Diego?"

"Yes?" 

"I am very glad to see you again. You should speak with Grace since you're here now." 

"I will." He hadn't forgotten about his mother. Of course, not. However, his mind was filled to the brink with all kinds of horrible scenarios concerning his missing brother and the thought of even talking to Grace didn't make it any easier right now. He would rather not talk to his mother. All it would bring him would be homesickness and grief for ever having left her in the first place. Leaving his mother behind to move out had been one of the hardest decisions he had ever needed to make in his life - next to his decision of leaving Klaus as well. 

Instead of seeking her out right away, he hurried down a corridor and then a narrow flight of steps. The house was like a maze but after growing up here, he was only one of the ten people that knew every nook and cranny of the ancient building and its nonsensical floor plan. His only intention as he hurried towards the gym was to avoid his father at all costs. The last thing he wanted was a lecture from the old man about his failures and his shortcomings. He didn't need the old man to rub it in his face that he had not managed to become a cop or that he had not managed to get away free himself from Klaus once and for all. 

As he came closer towards the gym, he could already hear the grunts of his brother. A lifetime ago, they had trained together, interested only in out-matching the other. In a way, he had loved the rivalry between them. Diego had always been someone who needed competition and challenge. As he had realized, though, that he would never be able to outmatch his brother no matter how hard he would try, he had given up on trying. He had given up on becoming the new number one and tried to be Diego instead.

"Luther!" He called out as he reached the open door to the gym. He found Luther in the midst of his pull-up routine in the far corner of the room. Luther’s grip on the iron bar almost slipped as he saw him. In the end, he caught his mistake and lowered himself to the ground slowly. Was he mistaken or was there a hopeful smile on his brother’s face? He looked honestly glad to see him as he approached him.

"Diego! What are you doing here?"  _ Are you back?  _ That was what he really heard in his brother’s question.  _ Are you back home? Am I not alone anymore?  _ Because he knew that his brother had to be lonely after they all left. He had never wasted a thought about it. Luther and he had gone their separate ways after a huge fight and that was that but now that he looked at him and saw such hope and relief in his blue eyes, he could tell that his brother was suffering greatly under the loneliness of his situation. One was indeed the loneliest number. Maybe someone should have given Number One a kick to leave the house and start his own life.

And then Diego remembered how Klaus had once told him how he had asked Luther to move out with him as their father wanted to kick Klaus out and how Luther had repaid him this offer. 

"I-" He stopped himself before the words could stumble over his lips. He hated to admit that he couldn't do  _ everything  _ alone. He hated to acknowledge when he needed help. Yet, here he was now and Luther was the only person he could possibly ask for help. Well, that wasn't quite true, though. He could have asked Eudora. Yet, he was here now in his dreaded childhood home talking to the one person he had always fought with. "I need your help."

And that one simple sentence served to change Luther’s attitude towards him and his presence completely and abruptly and not in the way he would have expected. He didn't look at him with condescending eyes or smugness that Diego couldn't do something on his own. His face became stoic and serious, his posture more straight, like a soldier standing awaiting an order.

"What's wrong?" Luther asked and for the first time in twenty years, Diego felt that he could actually trust his brother at last. 

"It's a Klaus." Diego replied but before Luther could ruin the moment with his stupidity, Diego quickly continued. "He … Disappeared."

"Diego" His voice was calm and perhaps softer than usual. He sounded a bit like Al now or even Eudora, like a person who had tried talking sense into him for years and years without success. "It's Klaus. He’s like a stray cat. He’ll show back up again."

"No … No, it's not like it usually is with him." Diego argued with a frustrated little sigh and ruffled his own short hair. "Have you heard about the murders?"

"Sure. I wanted to see if I can help but Dad didn't want me to get involved. He said that's something the police could handle themselves. He said that this isn’t something the Umbrella Academy was equipped to handle." He sounded a bit frustrated by that fact and that gave Diego hope. "It's our job to stop drug dealers and bank robbers, gangs and … all kinds of petty criminals but not … serial killers." 

"Well … I think … No. I  _ know  _ that he’s in danger." 

The look Luther gave him was one of the utmost bewilderment. "What? Are you saying that you think that Klaus was taken by that killer? Why would it be Klaus of all people?"

And here they were now. The crossroads. He could tell that Luther wanted to help but that would entail that Diego would actually tell his brother everything he knew. He had promised Patch to keep his mouth shut. And could he really trust his brother with such information? Could he trust that Luther would not run straight to their father and tell him everything he had heard from Diego? Plus, he could not expect Luther to just believe what he was telling him without anything to back it up, right?

"The other victims were all the same type." He decided to say at last.

"You mean they looked like Klaus?" 

"Yes." 

"That's hardly enough to-"

"They were all prostitutes."

At first, Luther's face remained stoically confused before Diego could see realization dawn on his brother’s face in slow-motion. And Diego himself was, at once, catapulted back to the day on which he had first learned that his brother was selling his body.

※※※※※※※

It was not a rare occurrence that Diego would be called into the precinct Eudora was working at. In fact, ever since he had started his career as a vigilante, he had become a frequent guest at the station. Some even called him an unofficial mascot. It was Eudora who often called him over, prompting Diego most of the time to crack a joke at her expense. Already, she was completely fed up with Diego and the fact that he so often got involved in her business - Because he was so much better at it, he wanted to add.

Today the reason for his visit was an enigma, however. At least he could not recall meddling with a crime scene again - as Eudora insisted on calling it. So, if this was not about him ‘meddling’ with some crime scene, his visit to the precinct could only mean that Klaus was in trouble again.

"Hargreeves!" Eudora called out from her desk the moment she saw him enter the precinct through the huge double doors leading into the hustle and bustle of the city. She was always so careful to leave people in the dark about their former relationship and Diego was going to respect that. At least she was no longer looking at him as if she wanted to throw up in his face whenever she saw him. Progress. 

"What did I do this time?" He gave her a wink as he approached her desk. The precinct was a beehive of activity. It was noisy and chaotic, people talking on the phone, victims of crimes in hysterics, people in handcuffs throwing insults at everything that moved. He felt right at home here. It was filthy and rough and nothing like the house he had grown up in. Eudora rolled her eyes at his greeting like she so often did as if his entire existence was an insult to her.

"Would you like to sit down?"

His face dropped at the question and Eudora could probably tell that she’d said something wrong immediately. Usually, she would not just offer him a seat politely. She would cut straight to the chase to get rid of him as quickly as humanly possible.

"Let me rephrase that: What has  _ he  _ done?" 

The sigh she gave him was a sound he had grown accustomed to a long time ago. She dropped her head in the way that always told Diego how little Eudora was prepared to deal with him and with his family drama - or everything attached to the name Hargreeves.

Sometimes he regretted ever having introduced Klaus to her at the very beginning of their short-lived relationship. Then again, how do you explain why some random junkie arrived at your doorstep in the middle of the night when your girlfriend stays overnight? Of course, their relationship had been cut short after that initial introduction but it was not Klaus who was to blame for that. Not really. No, Diego had been fully capable of ruining this himself. 

"Diego-"

"Just tell me, okay? Like ripping off a band-aid. Can't be worse than last time, I guess."  _ Last time _ , Klaus had been brought in for public indecency after he had passed out in central park and all his clothes had been stolen off his body. It hadn’t been his fault but he certainly wouldn't have needed to prance around the park stark naked instead of calling him right away.

"Solicitation."

"Solicitation?"

"Solicitation," Eudora repeated. "He was arrested prostituting himself to a guy at the docks. The guy was an undercover police officer, so … there’s no doubt about what happened either."

He could feel how to color drained from his face. Sure, a part of him had always suspected something like this. Klaus was living on the streets, getting by with scraps that Diego would toss him whenever he would see him, spending the money he would get from his brother on drugs instead of food. The route of a junkie on the streets was one that inevitably led to crime or prostitution. It was something very different though to hear it from his ex-girlfriend’s mouth that his worst nightmare had come true. The look that Eudora gave him, was one of pity and concern. Diego allowed his knees to make good on their promise to buckle as he sat down at Eudora’s desk - although he was sure that it probably looked a whole lot more like he was falling like a baby deer.

"Shit."

"Shit." She echoed his sentiment silently and reached out to give his hand a reassuring squeeze - perhaps the first really kind gesture of hers towards him since their break up. 

"What happens now?" He already knew the answer. He could read it in the way Patch was looking at him now. There was nothing he could do and they both knew it.

※※※※※※※

"Dad won’t want us to investigate this," Luther whispered at last. His voice was hollow and his face strangely empty. He looked much like Diego had felt back when he had first learned the truth about Number Four’s nightly endeavors and secret job. Not that he had really made it a secret towards Diego. They had just not talked about it before that very day. 

"Dad?" He echoed affronted by Luther’s unwavering unbroken loyalty to the old man. Reginald had not once raised a finger to help his wayward son. Not even during the countless overdoses that had sent Klaus straight to the ER in the past years. Reginald had never left this house to look after his child and make sure he was okay. Adopted or not, they were his children. But Diego had learned a long time ago that their father was unable to love anyone or anything. Where his heart should be there was only a piece of coal. "Don't you dare make this about Dad now, Luther! I came here because I wanted  _ your  _ help! Because I can't do this alone! So what now? Are you in or not?" 

He could see the struggle behind Luther's forehead - the cogs turning. He wanted to please, that was really what defined his brother. He was Number One, the leader, Dad’s favorite. Of course, they all knew that Five had been his favorite, but still. Luther made the mistake of holding himself to the same standards as his father did instead of realizing that he had nothing to prove to their father or his siblings. However, his brother surprised him in the end.

"Where do we start?" 

If there was one thing that Diego Hargreeves would never have expected to be happening in his life, it would be him walking through the bad part of town with his brother Luther while they were searching for one of their other adopted siblings. He had never questioned whether or not Luther knew anything about his and Klaus’ relationship. He could only suspect that Luther either didn't know anything or that he knew and had elected not to say anything. After all, Luther would have no right in throwing the first stone. Just like the siblings had universally decided not to make it an issue what was happening between Luther and Allison, they seemed to have chosen the same approach to whatever was going on between Numbers Two and Four. Perhaps because for such a long time, they hadn’t been able to put a name to it themselves. Not that Diego felt he knew what to call this thing between them now. 

"It's hopeless." Luther groaned as they left one more drug den of which Diego knew Klaus frequented. The sun was hanging low and although the latest storm had just passed it was cold and promised of yet another storm to hit - perhaps even worse than the last one. "I mean, couldn't he have already gone to your place in the meantime?"

"I doubt it." Diego sighed. "We had an arrangement-"

"Yeah, but since when is Klaus the most reliable person on earth, Diego?"

"We had an  _ arrangement  _ and he stuck to it without fail." 

"Until he didn't."

"Which means something happened."

"Or that he found some new sugar daddy again. Remember? The Osso Bucco guy back when we were kids?"

They had barely been seventeen - only weeks dividing them from their birthday - and Klaus ran off after Ben’s death. He had been gone for almost four weeks. Three of which he had spent with this guy who they only called the “Osso Bucco guy” after the only thing Klaus had told them about the guy was that he had made this particular dish for him all the time. And heavens knew that Diego had not wished to know more than that. The memory was still like daggers in his heart. Sure, they hadn't been a thing at the time. Not really at least. That didn't change how he felt, though. To him, it had almost been like a betrayal of sorts - as if Klaus had cheated on him with this stranger. Of course, it was stupid but it was what it was. 

He had been a child, a teenager, not even yet a man. And he had been in love - a fool, really. And yes, the worst thing about all of this was that Luther might be right. Klaus had the tendency to vanish for a few weeks every now and then. And it wouldn't be the first time that he would vanish only to resurface and tell Diego all about some older guy he had spent a few days or even a week with. It was all too probable that Klaus had just run off to do his thing again and yet … there was this twisted feeling in the pit of his stomach. Fuck … Perhaps a part of him wished that Klaus was in danger because it would mean that he had no need to be jealous. And wasn’t that just a whole new level of messed-up?

"Excuse me." A thin little voice suddenly addressed the brothers from behind them and ripped Diego from his idiotic thoughts. They turned around right away only to face a girl that stepped outside the house that they had just walked out of. She was small - tiny like Vanya - sickly thin with long blonde hair and pale skin that made her look like a ghost. Telling her age was almost impossible but what Diego could say was that she was much too young to be at such a place at such an hour. There was no denying, though that she was looking for her next high. Only one more young person that had fallen victim to temptation. He could see her path clearly before him. "Diego?"

He blinked in surprise. "Yeah?"

"I've heard that you're looking for Klaus?" She pointed over her shoulder back to the house as if to indicate that she had noticed them inside but had not gotten the chance to talk to them inside for some reason or another. Well, people like her … they had all kinds of reasons not to talk to strangers looking for someone in the vicinity of other like-minded people. 

"You know Klaus?" Luther asked with raised brows and the girl gave a little chuckle.

"Everyone knows Klaus." She smiled.

"So you’ve seen him?" Diego interrupted. He didn't care if that girl knew Klaus or how she knew Klaus. He wanted to know where he was. That was the only important thing right now. 

"A little while ago, yes … Two days ago. I saw him last with a customer. Tall, dark hair, glasses - nothing special really but he gave me the creeps."

"Thank you." Diego breathed out. A clue. At least that. They had somewhere to start despite how much it hurt to hear that Klaus had walked off with some random guy to get fucked and paid for it. He could tell that Luther too didn't like the thought the way his shoulders tensed. Luther and Klaus might not have been especially close but Luther had always thought himself responsible for his siblings’ wellbeing. He was protective when he wanted to be. "Where was that?"

"Near the docks." She shrugged. "I think I've seen the guy before."

"You have?"

"Yeah … I mean … I'm not sure, y’know? Memory’s a bit  _ foggy _ . Usually, a bouquet of some nice green flowers helps to jog my memory." There it was - exactly what he had been waiting for. A wicked little glint in her dull grey eyes and a coy smile. He knew that look from Klaus. Deep down it was infuriating but, in the end, for her, this was about survival - or at least about her next hit. 

"She knows nothing, Diego!" Luther barked, agitated, and angry at this girl’s attitude. He couldn't hold it against Luther. His brother didn't have as much experience in dealing with junkies like her as Diego had. Even though he wanted to scream at her and shake some sense into her, he tried to remain calm. Desperation clung to his very heart. "Come on. I bet you that Klaus is getting high somewhere right now - or he got arrested again! You should just ask your police contact-"

Before Luther could even finish talking, Diego pressed a fifty dollar bill in the girl’s hand and Luther let out a deeply frustrated groan.

"So the guy is a complete rando, right? But he had something about him that I don't trust. Like … he's  _ too  _ normal. Not the type of guy who goes around buying gay junkies for sex, okay? I think I saw him with one or two of the other guys that vanished a little while ago. You should ask around the harbor if you want to find out more." 

The girl shoved the money into the front of her tight jeans - just like Klaus usually did. Well, it was certainly safer than the pockets of her thin jacket or her jeans. People like her needed to be creative and resourceful. Still, Diego knew that it was only a matter of time until this girl would end up on a metal table and someone would weep for her. She would probably not even survive next winter. 

"I hope you’ll find him." The girl smiled. "Klaus is one of the good guys out here, you know? He makes sure everyone is safe - especially us girls."

"Klaus?" Luther echoed in surprise.

"Yeah!" She laughed. "He scared some asshole away once that didn't take no for an answer. The guy didn't wanna pay and I didn't wanna go with him. That’s actually how I met Klaus. He came out of nowhere like a ghost and he put on quite a show, played it up as if he was some lunatic straight from the looney bin, talking about ghosts, talking to another person, screaming and yelling! And when the guy ran off, he took me to get something to eat and showed me where to find shelter. It was my first winter on the streets." 

Diego couldn't help but feel a sense of pride wash over him. Klaus. The girl gave one last smile before she turned off to go back inside. Diego and Luther shared a look at her story about their brother and in Luther’s eyes, Diego could see the same kind of pride in Klaus that he felt. Number Four had always been the good soul of the family. Pure, in an odd, wicked way. Pure of heart. Gentle and kind. Caring. Too caring sometimes.

"Well, that wasn't helpful at all." Luther sighed at last as the girl left them to go back inside.

"It would say that this was  _ very  _ helpful." Diego countered instead. "We now know that Klaus is with the killer."

"He  _ might  _ be with the killer." Luther clarified but Diego didn't care. To him, the situation was clear. "So what do we do now?"

"Well,  _ if  _ he is with the killer … we have 5 days to find him before he’s dead." 

**-End of Chapter 4-**


	5. Chapter 5

_ "It's so beautiful here." He said. "This moment now." _

_ Curled up in the furthest corner of Diego’s narrow bed that was pushed against the wall in his tiny room, lay Klaus and watched him like a hawk. Years ago, he would have never thought that he would find Klaus here but now, his four walls seemed transformed just by his presence on the bed - just by the way he was looking at him right at this very moment. _

_ He knew that he didn't want this. There was a reason not to want this - but he forgot.  _

_ All that was of importance right now was Klaus in his bed as the academy shifted and turned over in it's sleep around them. He found himself pausing in his door, dressed only in a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants, his eyes glued to his adopted brother’s half-naked form on the bed. And his greatest fear was suddenly not to be found out by their siblings or their father but that Klaus would get up from his spot and say something like "Well, anyway, I’ll see you around". _

_ In most nights he would lie awake in fear that his brother would sneak out of his window, down the fire escape, and never return to the house - to him. Because out there, the world was filled with monsters and the monsters might just eat him alive. They were stupid and they had teeth and claws and they ate people like Klaus for breakfast. _

_ As Klaus smiled at him now, he felt himself relax against the doorframe, his heart fluttering ever so slightly in his tightly wound chest. Already, he could almost feel it break in half. It was just another night of demons haunting his brother - that was what he told himself so often. Klaus would climb into the bed next to him and he would sleep through the noise in his head, his weight pressed against Diego, their bodies pressing together from head to toe - not an inch of skin not connected, not a second of breath not shared. And his heart would beat faster with every breath his brother would take next to him. This, right here, had long stopped being just about the monsters in Klaus’ head or the ghosts lurking in the halls. _

_ Maybe it meant nothing to Klaus. But, suddenly, he was afraid to move. _

※※※※※※※

Darkness reigned supreme over the world around him. He was in a black hole. That was all there was. Darkness. Complete and utter darkness. It was worse than the mausoleum. At least there had been the light from the moon shining in through a little window in the door - pale and unforgiving. Pain shot through his body like a virus. There was no escape from it. He could feel it rush through his veins. He was freezing cold. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.

All his limbs pressed tightly against his torso, folded together like a caterpillar in its cocoon. 

He had no idea where he was - only that the world outside the box was worse. By now, he didn't know any longer if his eyes were closed or if he had them open. It didn't matter anyway. Time had lost all meaning. Only the pain and the fear mattered. And the whistling of a song he could hear outside the box as it came closer - the harbinger of new pain to come. 

※※※※※※※

**Day 3**

"Eudora." 

"No." She wouldn't even look up from her paperwork.  _ Police work _ . Files. Reports. Fuck, a part of him was glad that he had been kicked out of the academy all those years ago. This … paper war. What was the point of it? What did Patch think she achieved with it? The true scum was still running around scot-free and why? Because of paperwork. Because of not properly filed documents or arrangements. No, what he was doing every night in the streets - that was true justice. 

"Eudora." He tried again, this time more pressing, more urgent and she finally looked up from her report. At first, she seemed annoyed but that was her default expression whenever she would be looking at him ever since they broke things off. Maybe she was right to disregard him like that too. He was certainly not the most pleasant person to be around, right? 

"What-"

"Klaus." He interrupted her immediately and her expression hardened just a bit - impossible to see for the uninitiated. Diego, however, knew all the facets of her facial expressions. "He’s disappeared."

He could see how the cogs were turning in her head. She tried to find an answer. She wanted to say ‘Don't worry, he’ll show up again’ or ‘Well, that's not new now, is it?’. She knew better, though. She knew that Diego would never come to her - to this precinct - if it was not something serious. 

"Diego-"

"He’s … gone. He’s … vanished. Patch, he- I think he-"

"How long?"

"Two days." And again the cogs were turning. "He didn't show up. We had an arrangement. We would meet every day at noon and he stopped showing up two days ago. I spoke to someone. A street girl. She said she saw him with a guy who might fit the profile. Patch, I need- I-" 

He needed to throw up. That's what he needed.

"Sit down." She offered instead and her voice was soft for once. He hated it. She should better yell and scream at him. Yes, that would be better. "Sit down. Let's talk about it." 

He felt like a caged tiger. He couldn't just sit down like this and act as if everything was normal and okay, right? His brother was missing and possibly in the hands of a serial killer! But how could he even begin to convey what he was going through right now? All that he managed to produce was a guttural little grunt in the back of his throat. Eudora’s hand landed on his forearm at this and finally, he followed her order and sat down slowly at her desk.

"I don't know what to do." He managed to grind out, hating with every fiber of his being how weak and pathetic and desperate he sounded. "I can't lose him." 

"You are going to tell me everything you know." Eudora smiled. It was the smile she had reserved for the people that came here to make a statement. And suddenly it dawned on him that she believed him. He couldn't feel joy about it, though. No - Not when it meant that he was now a loved one of a victim. He was no longer Eudora’s ex-boyfriend Diego Hargreeves sitting here and being annoying. He was Diego Hargreeves, adopted brother of another potential victim of the Ripper. This was no longer about them and their history or about Diego's hero complex. This was work. This was serious. "That's what we are going to do now." 

※※※※※※※

Restlessness was the true bane of his existence. He had always been a restless soul. That much he had in common with Klaus. Unlike the other superpowered boy, however, Diego had found an outlet to his restlessness in exercise and his work-out routine while Klaus had ventured out into the night to poison himself and drown out every little voice in his head with whatever substance he could get his greedy hands on.

In his case, restlessness caused Diego to roam the streets once more this night in hopes of getting his mindset straight again. He had gone to Patch and told her everything he knew and now he felt even more restless and worried about his missing brother than he had before. The feeling of vulnerability, however, was way worse than that.

What chance was there that Patch and her paperwork would be able to actually achieve anything? He doubted that the police would even take stuff like this seriously. Just one more junkie off the streets. What loss was there to society if a killer was picking up junkie hookers left and right? If anything, he was doing a service to society - that probably was something many people thought. Many people who weren't Diego. Many people who didn't know the people that had been killed - or Klaus. 

People - normal people - tended to forget that those victims were once someone's child or brother, someone who had been loved by someone else. 

It seemed futile to roam the same streets and back alleys that he had already searched numerous times - alone or with Luther - again and again. But what choice did he really have? At least now Diego knew that his brother Luther seemed to take him seriously in his fears about Klaus. For once in their shared life as siblings or rather fellow soldiers, he knew that he only needed to call Luther to get his brother to help him search again through yet another night with not much hope of finding their missing Number Four. Tonight he would rather be alone, though. 

He had no hope of finding Klaus and yet he wandered back to the docks as he had so often at this point. The sound of the waves sloshing in the harbor basin was oddly calming to his faltering nerves. He had always liked being near water - which was not that big of a surprise, he assumed. He remembered Klaus shouting at the top of his lungs to ‘release the Kraken’ whenever they had been in the bath together or later during swim training. Back then his brother had still been full of joy and life. Bubbly and buzzing with energy. Not long after the ghosts had first shown themselves to Klaus and everything had just stopped like a clock that suddenly stopped ticking. Back then, he hadn't been able to see it, though. Klaus changed after that, after the ghosts first came. Slowly and over a long stretch of time, but he had changed undeniably. 

He should have seen the storm brewing on the horizon. He should have known - even as a child. 

"Hey" A girl approached him with a smile. He hadn't seen her at first but as she was now stepping out of the shadows he asked himself how he could have missed her and her gleaming cigarette in the darkness. She was a thin little thing. Her clothes left barely anything to the imagination and he had the desire to wrap her up in warmer clothes and put a bowl of soup in front of her. Not the urge most men certainly felt when looking at her. Perhaps Klaus was right and Diego was a mother-hen. "Alone, Sugar? Care for a bit of company?"

The jacket she was wearing seemed too big, though not by much. It seemed familiar, strangely enough. Then again, the poor souls that were living on the streets seemed to often wear similar clothes. He remembered one ex-colleague at the academy making a joke once that they were all shopping in a department store catering solely to junkies and whores in downtown where they got their working clothes to achieve that ‘Heroin-chic’. Diego had punched him for that remark. In that winter, Klaus had almost died from hyperthermia after he had been sent away at every shelter he went to. Diego had found him huddled underneath a cardboard box in a corner of a parking lot, half-dead from the cold.

"No." He brushed her off even before she bridged the distance between them and put her hand on his arm. He barely registered her touch as she was now close enough to fully take in her appearance - and her jacket. The black worn down leather jacket with the pin of Al’s boxing gym on the front. The black worn down leather jacket with the small pride flag on the left sleeve.

"You sure, Baby? I can give you a grand old time." She purred. "You won’t regret it." 

She flinched as he grabbed her by the arm and immediately began squirming which in turn made Diego loosen his grip again. The last thing he wanted was to scare her. The girl took a step back but didn't try to run or to take her arm out of his grip. Surely, she had experienced worse and quickly regained composure as if nothing happened. She was desperate for money and would probably even go with him if he had just punched her. Everything for money or a warm place to spend the night. His heart hurt knowing that Klaus was just the same.

"This jacket" He breathed and tried to steady himself. "Where’d you get it?"

"What?"

"It's my brother’s!" 

"You are crazy!" She ripped her arm out of his grip, now thoroughly freaked out by Diego’s manic behavior. "Stay away from me!" She screeched as she took another few steps away from him. He could see that a few of the other people that were lingering about were looking at them with curiosity and attention. He wondered if any of them would come to her rescue if she would call for help. Had Klaus called for help? Had anyone tried to help him?  _ No _ , he thought. Most people out in the streets were desperate to keep themselves safe first. Not Klaus, though.

"Hey, listen!" He came after her and raised his hands placatingly, hoping that she would calm down again if he showed her that he was no threat. "I just want to know where you found the jacket! My brother vanished."

"Listen, Buddy, I don't know what you're on right now but it's my jacket, okay? I don't know you or your brother!" 

"It's definitely his." He then growled, slowly losing his patience once more. "You want me to hand you over to the cops? I’m sure you have a few things on you they might be interested in. Jesus Christ, just tell me where you found it. I don't want anything more than this. Keep it for all I care!" 

The girl finally looked at him again. She seemed hesitant as she took in his disheveled appearance and Diego knew that now was his time to strike. "Please." He added a bit quieter, a bit softer. "Please, I’m just looking for my brother. I’m afraid that something has happened to him. And if I knew where you found his jacket, maybe I could find out where he is or what happened to him." 

She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and pulled the jacket tighter around herself. It was darn cold anyway. Almost he was afraid that she would ask him for money like the last girl had too but this one just gave a long-suffering sigh and dropped her shoulders a bit.

"Okay, listen. The other night I had a client who took me to that motel on Calhoon, right? After I was done with him, I found the jacket in the parking lot. It just laid there and I took it. I thought someone lost it and wouldn't mind me take it. I mean … someone losing their jacket and not even noticing it? Clearly that person doesn’t need it as much as I do then."

"When was that?"

"Like … three days ago I think. It was very early in the morning and had been raining all night." She shrugged but it gave Diego a timeframe. Klaus had not been with him the night before he didn't show up at Griddy’s and that night it had been raining like crazy. "I remember that when we got there that there was another car parked there - at the spot where I found the jacket, actually. So I figured that the owner of the car might have lost it or something. I didn't really think any of it when I took it." 

He brushed a hand through his hair. "It's okay." He muttered. "Really, it's cool. Keep it. It's going to be a cold-ass winter, you’ll need it." She gave him a smile and Diego knew that he shouldn't be doing it, but in the end, he fished two ten-dollar bills out of his jacket and gave them to the girl. At first, she refused but then she took it. "Please, just … buy something to eat, okay? And if you need help or … or someone to get you out of this mess, you can come to Al’s boxing gym or go to Officer Patch."

She seemed a little confused by his offer but then she nodded. "I hope you’ll find your brother." With that, she walked off and Diego had the feeling that she would shoot those twenty bucks right up her arm. There was nothing he could do about that. The only thing that he could do was give her an idea of where to go if she needed it.

At least now he had a hint of where to go. He had an address pretty much. For a moment, he stayed where he was and pondered how he wanted to pursue this, and then he decided to go back to the police - even if only reluctantly so. 

Patch was the one person in the police force who was on his side and who was willing to listen to him and the situation. If anyone in the police would help him, it would be her. At the very least, he wanted to give her a chance to help him. And, on the other hand, maybe the motel employees would give her the information they needed rather than him when she would flash her badge. It seemed to take hours though until he and Patch arrived at the motel in question. It was a dirty little shithole that was usually frequented by hookers and their Johns or common criminals in need of a hiding place or a place to conduct business. 

They sat in tense silence for a second in Eudora’s car. She was already off duty but still in her uniform and her hands still rested firmly on the wheel as they stared at the unexciting building in front of them. They could see light coming through some of the blinds in front of the windows that were facing the parking lot and, more importantly, there was light in the receptionist's office as well. He went to open his door as Eudora reached out to stop him with one firm hand landing on his shoulder. 

"You stay here, okay?"

"What?" Diego bristled. "No! I’m coming with you!"

"No, you're not," Patch argued. "You want that to look like official police business? Then I cannot go in there with an angry and worried random civilian, right?"

"Civilian? I’m not- It's my brother!"

"I know." She sighed and rubbed his shoulder through the thick fabric of his jacket. "I know. Just let me handle it, okay? I promise I’ll tell you everything that the guy said, right? Just, stay put and let me do my job for once." 

He wanted to protest, wanted to fight and argue and tell her that he didn't need her for this and that he could have come here alone just the same. Instead, he swallowed those angry comments and nodded instead. This situation might as well decide whether Klaus would live or die. It was better to handle it with more care no matter how much he actually hated the sound of this. 

"Okay." She breathed as she then got out of her car and walked over to the motel with quick and determined steps just like Diego had always known her to be. He watched how she went to the door, opened it quickly and stepped inside and thus out of sight. He took a deep breath and steadied himself. He had never been good at just waiting for news. In fact, there was hardly anything worse than that for him. He felt so helpless just sitting around and not being able to do anything of value right now. 

Minutes ticked by endlessly. It seemed to take Patch hours and hours until she walked back out. Fuck, he couldn't even deny how fucking grateful he was that Patch was actually helping him in this way. That wasn't exactly normal - not at all. If Patch would be any different, she would have just told him to go fuck himself and not even consider helping him find his adopted brother who was not only a junkie and a hooker but also her ex-boyfriend’s occasional lover. She was not a fan of their on-again-off-again kind of relationship or their occasional hook-ups even though she shrouded herself in the air of disinterest when it came to this part of Diego's life. He knew that she cared deep down a lot about this part of his life. A long time ago, she had loved him, after all. When they broke up, Patch had asked him outright if he had ever really loved her - if there even was room for anyone in his heart next to Klaus. He might not have been the reason for their break-up, but he had been a contributing factor without a doubt. Looking back on it, Diego felt guilty. He had never cheated on her, never betrayed her trust and yet it felt this way.

Only once Patch had spoken to him about all of that mess and her statement had been just as clear as Al’s opinion was on the matter of Klaus. And, fuck, Diego knew that they were all right. He knew that this wasn't good for him and that he was only hurting himself but … it was Klaus. 

It was always him. It had always been him.

Eudora seemed angry as she came over to the car and even more so when she got back in.

"So?"

"That fucking asshole won’t talk unless I come to him with a warrant." She growled. "He said that the names of his customers are confidential."

"What?" He gasped. "No, come on! What did you say? What did you do? Are you telling me you have nothing?"

"What did you expect me to do?" Her voice always jumped off a few octaves and got uncomfortably shrill when she was angry or irritated.

"I don't know! Give him money? Threaten him?"

"See? And that's why I am a cop and you are just a weirdo in a stretch costume, Diego." Patch sighed suddenly deflated by his arguments as she turned the car back on. "Diego, I am a cop and I want to actually remain a cop and have a career in the force. There are rules, you know? I can't just run around and force information out of innocent people. I’m not you." 

He wanted to argue but the look she gave him made him pause. Oh. He snapped his mouth shut and leaned back in his seat. A part of him wanted to get out and go over there right that instance but that would shine a negative light on Eudora. After all, how likely was it that two people would come to this motel and ask the same kind of questions in a matter of just a few minutes without knowing each other? No, logically speaking, he needed to wait and come back.

"We’ll find him," Eudora promised as she put the car into drive and drove out of the parking lot in front of the motel. "I promise you." 

※※※※※※※

**Day 4**

The air was colder than the last couple of days. Winter was approaching now in quick strides without any mercy. Soon life on the streets would become even more of a nightmare for those unfortunate souls that didn't have a roof over their heads. The sky was a cloudy depressing mess and Diego couldn't quite recall when he had last seen the sun. It seemed ages ago that he had felt its warm glow on his face. A part of him wondered if he would ever feel warm again. In short, Diego was not a fan of the colder months of the year. It reminded him of death and decay and of all the little things that his brother Klaus had always hated and been afraid of.

As he sat in his car and stared at the motel in front of him, he almost didn't want to get out. Beside him, however, Luther gave a small grunt as he cleared his throat awkwardly. "And you said that he was here?"

"At least according to the girl who had his jacket."

"You sure it was his?" 

"Of course." He shot back sharply. "I know that fucking jacket! Last winter I told him I would get him a new one and he refused! He stole that one pin he has from Al’s office!" 

"Okay, okay!" Luther sighed. "Okay. Got it. So if he was here we know the date and we only need to find out with whom. How?"

"Security cameras? If we find Klaus on the cameras we would know the time when they checked into their room and then we might get a name." It was all very hypothetical and he knew that. In fact, he didn't have much hope, to begin with. And yet he was determined to get answers - any kind of answers. It didn't matter. "Okay." He said to himself before opening his door. "Come on. Let's get this show on the road now." 

Coming with Luther had been a deliberate decision. After the crap that the receptionist had given Eudora before, it was most likely that they needed some form of force for this, and perhaps being confronted by two buff dudes would already be enough to sway the man in question. They got out of the car and strode over to the office without hesitation in long strides. 

A bell chimed over the door as Diego opened it and stepped inside the lobby with Luther. Behind the receptionist’s desk sat a bored-looking young man with a bowl of soggy cereal in his lap. As they entered, the guy raised one eyebrow at them but otherwise didn't acknowledge their existence in his personal space. 

"Good Morning." Leave it to Luther to remember his manners in a situation like this. Diego allowed his brother to step forward for once. He was Number One, after all, and even though one might claim that Diego was more invested in this situation, they both had a family member in peril. And Diego knew that he would lose his shit if that guy would make one stupid comment. 

"How can I help you?" The guy answered in a clearly annoyed little sigh as he put his bowl away and sat up straight in his chair. "You wanna get a room, you two lovebirds?"

Luther seemed taken aback for a second before he seemed to regain control over his face again. "We are looking for someone." 

"Aren't we all?"

"Okay cut the crap, Dude." Diego chimed in. "Our brother is missing and last he was seen he was here at this craphole of a motel."

"And what do you want me to do now?"

"We just want to have a look at the security footage from that night, okay?" Luther tried to calm the situation. "Just to see when he was here and maybe you can help us figure out with whom he was here."

"Oh, so your ‘brother’ is one of those, huh?" He laughed. "Sorry, no can do. Confidential and shit. I mean how would you like it if I would hand your personal data out to anyone who comes in and asks?" 

"Please, he could be in danger!" Luther tried again.

"Well, then he should have chosen his line of work more carefully." 

Without thinking about it, Diego jumped over the counter, grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the nearest wall. He pushed his forearm against the man’s throat mercilessly as he squeezed the breath out of him. The guy, surprised and equally horrified by the sudden burst of violence against him, wheezed and gasped and tried to scratch him to get Diego off of him. Of course, all it served to do was to make Diego squeeze even harder immediately. Talking nicely apparently didn't work on that asshole. 

"I’m gonna ask you again now, Fuckhead. "Are you gonna show us the tapes or no? You see, my brother over there - he’s the nice one. I’m the one with the knives." 

"Okay!" The guy wheezed. "Okay, okay! Stop, Man!" Well, at least the guy had some sort of self-preservation in him. He didn't let him go immediately. He gave another push against his throat before he allowed him to breathe again. "Jeez, Man!" He coughed. "No reason to freak out like this!"

He threw another glance at Luther and Diego in annoyance as if this kind of thing was not even quite the worst he had ever experienced during his time at this place. It probably wasn’t. After he straightened out his stained shirt, he moved over to the monitor on his desk. "When did you say your brother was here?" 

"Monday," Diego answered right away. "Probably sometime in the night from Sunday to Monday."

"Okay." He sighed. "Let's see." 

The brothers watched the clerk as patiently as was possible at the moment. It took a few minutes of the guy going through the footage with them until Diego chimed up. "That's him!" He suddenly exclaimed and pointed at the monitor. The image on the screen was blurry but it was definitely Klaus, wearing that leather jacket he had seen on the girl at the side of some random guy who had a hood pulled over his head. As if he was aware of the cameras - and he probably was - the guy avoided looking in the general direction of the cameras. He would have cursed had he not been so mesmerized by seeing his brother walking through the parking lot and then into the receptionist’s office.

"Okay, so Monday at 2 AM." The clerk muttered to himself before he opened the guest book and started filing through it. "Here. At that time they were the only ones checking in. I assume your brother’s name is not Gordon Johnson?"

**-End of Chapter 5-**


	6. Chapter 6

**Day 4**

Outside in the parking lot of the motel, it was cold and a thick fog lingered above the ground. Despite it being almost noon by now, the sky seemed dark and grey and the two Hargreeves brothers seemed rooted on the spot - unable to shift the car into drive and leave as they should. 

"We should tell Dad about all of this." Luther. Good old predictable Luther. His gut instinct was always to involve their father no matter what. Perhaps he would never quite shake it off. Perhaps he would forever remain this scared little boy inside. 

"Dad?" Diego echoed in annoyance. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean-" 

"No, Luther! We are not going to tell Dad! Do you really think he would even care? He never cared." 

"Sure he cared - he cared about all of us."

"Is that why he locked Klaus up in a mausoleum when we were little?" That, at last, seemed to knock the wind out of his pompous brother. Number One stared at him like a goldfish for a few solid seconds before he opened his mouth and then quickly closed it again. A part of him wished he hadn't said these words. They had just stumbled over his lips without his consent. Klaus had never wanted anyone to know about the mausoleum and now here he was spilling the beans on the secret Klaus had entrusted him with. 

He remembered the night he had found out about Klaus’ little secret all too vividly to this day. Klaus hadn't been there during dinner that day and he had been worried sick for Number Four. Unlike the others, Diego had not just eaten up his father's explanation of Klaus feeling sick. The others had been glad to dismiss their troublesome Number Four like this but he hadn't. So, he had been sitting in his room, waiting for any sound during the night. It had been way past midnight when he had heard Klaus’ shuffling footsteps and opened the door to beckon him into his own room. And there, as soon as the door had closed, his brother had broken down in sobs and the only thing Diego had been able to do was sitting on the floor of his room with Klaus in his arms and listening.  _ I’m gonna kill him _ . That was what he had promised Klaus that night. Yet, he had disappointed him. He had never done anything against their father. He had just sat back and watched Klaus spiral out of control.

"He did … He- What?" Maybe he had misjudged Luther in the past when he had been certain that his brother wouldn't care about all that shit their father had done to Klaus - or any of them for that matter.

"Yeah." Diego dragged a hand over his face. "Klaus didn't want anyone to know, so … just shut up about it, okay? It's not important right now anyway. We need to figure out who that guy is." 

"Gordon Johnson." Luther sighed as the first heavy drops of rain started to drum down on the windshield yet again. 

Diego had always hated this time of the year when every day was grey and monotone and without even the slightest hint of color. Well, the only hint of color in his life, as cheesy as it might sound, had been Klaus anyway. Wherever his brother had gone, he had brought sunlight with him. They sat together in Diego's car as if it was a normal thing for them to do, as if they had shared a moment like this thousands of times before. Truth be told, he kinda liked being here with Luther right now. For once in their life, they got along and were pulling at the same strings. 

"I guess we could find out about him in the library. I mean there has to be some sort of records about him. I could ask Patch too." But then she would ask why he wanted to know anything about that man and he would need to lie to her. Or did he? Wouldn't it be good to tell her what he found out? Then again, how would she be able to explain how she found out that name for her investigation? But having the police involved - No, it might as well backfire on them. Having the police involved could mean a death sentence for his brother. 

"Maybe" Luther began. "Maybe we should leave her out of it." Well, wasn't that a surprising turn of events? "I mean that guy could be dangerous and … Maybe this is something we should do on our own. Having the police involved … if the guy realized that we are hot on his trail, he might kill Klaus before the usual timeline of events. No, we need to be sneaky."

"Wow, Luther." Diego huffed. "Could it be true? Numbers One and Two agreeing for once?"

"Miracles do happen." 

※※※※※※※

In the darkness of the tiny box he was locked in, he had no concept of time. There was no telling how many hours had passed or how many days. Had it been days already? The only hint of the passing of time he had was the coming and going of his tormentor and the pain that he would then deliver to him. It might as well be years that he had already spent locked in this box, his only friend the pain he was in, and the horrors of withdrawal. 

His tormentor seemed to experience a sick sense of satisfaction as he was gloating about how Klaus would be writhing in agonizing pain as his skin was melting off his body from the side effects of the cold turkey he was forcing Klaus through. He was in the thick of it now. So … what? Maybe three days? Four? He couldn't tell. His last detoxes he had consigned to oblivion. Going cold turkey was the worst pain he knew - or so he thought before this guy had first laid a hand on him in this torture chamber outside the box. 

At least by now, he had a sense of his surroundings. He had seen the world outside of his box. He couldn't say, though, if it was a cellar or some abandoned warehouse. It might as well be an abandoned school or some kind of apartment building. He was underground, that much he could almost confidently say, though. The room outside his box had no windows and only one single steel door leading out. It almost looked a little like Diego’s boiler room apartment with the only difference that it was ice cold down here. 

Diego … He had warned him. He had warned him and Klaus hadn't listened and now he would never see him again, never feel the caress of his lips again, never feel his warmth again, never hear him breathe heavily in his sleep or murmur through his dreams. He wished he had never left Diego’s bed. He should have stayed at his side, cuddling up to his strong body and pretend like the world outside wouldn't exist. 

Soon the first snow would fall and he would watch it with Diego, sitting on some rooftop or on a bench in the park, arm in arm, Diego’s heat warming his freezing body. He could still feel him how he wrapped around him like a blanket. 

He was freezing. 

Freezing and so fucking weak. 

By now he knew that his prison truly consisted out of a coffin. A fucking coffin. He wondered if his tormentor knew how ironically fitting that was. He had seen the coffin after his tormentor had first taken him out of it to begin his sick fantasies. And later, after he had been finished with Klaus for the moment, he had been too weak to resist as he had been guided back to the wooden coffin in one corner of the room. 

The panic had come the moment the lid had been put in place with something heavy being placed on top. He wouldn't have had the strength to pry the lid open anyway. And still, he had banged his fists against the wood. Still, he had scratched at the lid until his nails came back bloody. By now, he didn't have any fingernails left. 

Greg had pulled them out. He had forced Klaus to count. He could still hear his voice singing in his ears.  _ "This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy stayed home."  _ Or was it his own voice? He couldn't tell.  _ "This little piggy had roast beef."  _ He was so fucking tired.  _ "This little piggy had none."  _ Freezing. He was freezing. And his skin was melting off his flesh. Soon he wouldn't have any skin left too.  _ "This little piggy cried “wee, wee, wee” all the way home." _

"Klaus." 

"It's too hot in here, Benny." Klaus heard himself whimper. "Can you turn off the heater?" Surely, Ben had come into his room to tell him that breakfast was ready and that he had, once again, overslept, right? Dad would be so mad at him when he would show up late again. Maybe it would be best if he wouldn't show up at all. His siblings wouldn't care anyway, right? 

"Klaus, open your eyes, come on!"

"It's too hot, Ben." 

"Yes, I know." Ben cooed. "Please, open your eyes!" 

And he did. Ben had said please, after all. It would be rude not to open his eyes after Ben had asked so nicely. Opening his eyes changed nothing about his surroundings, though. For a moment, he wasn’t even sure if he had, in fact, opened his eyes at all as darkness was greeting him like an old friend. 

"Ben?" He couldn't see his brother.

"He didn't lock the door," Ben said and pushed him into a well of utter confusion with so few words. 

"Who?" He was back in the mausoleum and the heavy steel doors had slammed shut on him by an uncaring, cold, and distant father. Ben was just outside the heavy doors, talking him through his fear of the spirits lingering about. "Dad?"

"Greg." Ben hissed. He sounded impatient. "When he left, he didn't lock the door! You could escape now!"

"I can't." He sobbed and the sound was alien to his own ears. Suddenly, he was almost certain that this was all just some weird dream that he was experiencing. This voice … it wasn’t even his own. "I can't get the lid off, Benny." 

"He forgot to but the weight on top! Come on, Klaus, please! You have to try!" 

"Dee will come for me…"

"No one will come for you in time because no one knows where you are because you didn't listen to Diego! Come on now, Klaus - please!" Ben urged increasingly more desperate by the sound of it. He could only imagine that his forehead was a wasteland of worry lines right now. It wasn’t a good look for his brother. One day, his face would stay like this. However, Klaus didn't like it when Ben would sound so pained and so he pressed his bloody hands against the lid again like he had done numerous times by now. He pushed and, to his surprise, the lid moved. He barely had enough strength left to push it aside but the realization that he could move it at all sent a rush of adrenaline through him. 

He managed to get the lid off the coffin and a part of him wanted to believe that it was because of Ben, that, somehow, his dead brother had lent him his strength. As the lid fell clattering to the ground next to his coffin, Klaus just laid there for what felt like hours. Sure, he felt the urgency of the situation and he knew that he needed to make haste now before his chance would be gone but he couldn't bring himself to move. 

He needed to calm his breath first, needed to fill his lungs up with air slowly and deliberately. Before Ben could urge him again standing next to the coffin, however, he placed both his hands on the edge of the coffin to both sides of his body and pushed himself up with the strength that was still left in his body. Slowly, he managed to sit up, and then he got his legs over the edge. It seemed to have taken hours but, at last, he was standing. He might be naked and splattered with blood from head to toe, but he was standing.

Klaus stepped forward gingerly, always mindful of his surroundings, always careful not to look at the corner where he could see the ghost of one of Greg’s previous victims sit - frozen in the last moments of his life, bound to relive them again and again. Would he end up like this guy? Would he die in this room only to be stuck here? He would much rather be stuck haunting Diego’s boiler room. Diego … If he would just be able to leave this room and find a phone - anything at all - he might be able to tell his brother where he was - or at least that he loved him and that he was sorry. It only took a serial killer for Klaus Hargreeves to realize the errors of his ways, who would've thought? 

The ghost murmured something but Klaus refused to listen. He moved to the door right away without wasting a second of looking at the room. He knew it way too intimately anyway - the dirt and blood stained mattress on the ground, the chair Greg would tie him to from time to time, the chains on the wall. Greg kept his torture instruments locked away when he wasn’t here. He always made a show of making Klaus watch how he cleaned them up and put them away meticulously - like a mechanic or a cook would. Perhaps he was afraid that Klaus would somehow get a hold of any of those tools and use them as a weapon against him. No. Greg didn't even know what fear was, he was sure of that. He was only good at instilling fear in other people. 

To Klaus, he had gloated about how many guys like him he had had in this cellar. On the first day, after he had dragged him here and tied him to that chair for the first time, he had told him all about how much fun he had had playing with the others and what he had done to them. His words would forever haunt him. Even if he would get out of here, Klaus knew that he would be forever scarred by this experience. 

As he reached the door, he was almost afraid to put his hand on the door handle but he did so after Ben urged him to do it. The door was unlocked - just like Ben had said. His brother would never lie to him. His brother would never trick him. Ben was the only one he could trust right now. He couldn't even trust himself. As the door handle gave way to his prodding, he allowed a sob to escape from his throat before he opened the door as swiftly as he could.

He was greeted with darkness as he stared into the barren corridor that he had just opened up. It was like a wormhole expanding before him and he was afraid to step into the darkness as if it might just swallow him. There was no monster roaring at him and no teeth appearing out of nothing as he took his first step into the darkness. And after he had made the plunge, he started running.

※※※※※※※

The public library was a fountain of knowledge and information. That came as no surprise to normal people but Diego and Luther Hargreeves still were amazed by the fact that they could easily find out everything that they wanted to know about whatever or whomever they wanted to research in this place. They had grown up in a huge mansion that held its very own library, yes, but the library at home was quite a different thing to the public library normal people used to frequent. No dusty old books, no ancient encyclopedias stuck in the 1830s. This, right here, was a place of knowledge, learning, and information just the same as their library at home just more … efficient. 

Equipped with the name Gordon Johnson, the brothers found numerous entries in the archives of the library. Announcements of loving parents welcoming their son Gordon Johnson, obituaries of the same Gordon Johnsons, articles about one or two of them but nothing that seemed to fit their guy. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack with just this name as a hint. They spent hours and hours sifting through the information that they were able to find like this while around them students and other people were working and researching. 

"I think that might be him." Luther murmured after hours of this from where he sat next to Diego on another computer. "Here, Gordon Johnson, born December 1st, 1986 to Deborah and George Johnson." 

Of all the possible candidates that they had found so far, this Gordon seemed to fit at least age-wise, so Diego turned around in his own chair to look at his brother’s screen more closely. "Good call." He congratulated Luther with one raised brow. Working together with Luther was still weird to him and yet, it was oddly satisfying.

"Yes, I think- Oh, never mind." Luther sighed. 

"What?"

"He died aged 22 in November 2008." Luther's broad shoulders dropped significantly. "The only other two living Gordon Johnsons in this city are a 97-year-old ex-cop in a retirement home and a boy aged only 5." 

"What about other cities?" Diego sighed as he leaned back in his chair exhausted. All of this … it was getting them nowhere! There could be thousands of people with that name! The guy didn't even need to be living in this city either! He could be traveling, keeping his victims somewhere else, living somewhere else.

"I doubt that." Luther leaned back in his chair the same way like Diego, mirroring his brother with the same level of exhaustion. "It's like searching for a needle in a haystack," Luther replied and though Diego knew that it was true, a part of him didn't want to agree with that. If he would agree with Luther, it would mean that he was giving up on hope. This name was the only thing they got, the only hope to find their brother. 

"We can't just … give up!"

"No … I know!" Luther frowned. "We are not giving up, Diego but … Obviously, this name is either an alias or the guy is from somewhere else and there are hundreds of guys with this name in the states."

"There has to be  _ something _ !" He raked his fingers through his short hair, lightning coursing through his veins. He was angry. Angry at the situation, angry at Luther, angry at Gordon Johnson, angry at himself. He couldn't give up. He couldn't just … leave this place with nothing. This name … it was something … it was the only thing that they had and yet it didn't give them anything! Yet, they were none the wiser! One step forward and three backward! "I mean … Maybe the cause of this one guy’s death will give us a clue and then-" 

"I know you want to find Klaus, but I don't think that this is the way, Diego." Luther’s voice was unbearably soft as he tried to talk some sense into him. He sounded like a big brother was supposed to sound and Diego hated nothing more.

"Then what do you propose, big guy?"

"Maybe … if we would just talk to Dad … He might be able to help."

"Dad?" He should have expected it that his brother would bring their father back into the equation at some point or another. He always did. To Luther, Reginald Hargreeves might as well have hung the moon and the stars in the sky. To Luther, Reginald was this all-knowing all-mighty figure that could do no wrong. He always fell back on him in times of crisis like the little boy he once was. "I’d rather chew off my own foot before I go to that old bastard for help. Look, if you don't wanna help, I’m gonna take care of this alone. You’re free to go." 

Luther hesitated for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something before snapping his mouth shut again with his teeth audibly clicking together. Then, with a sigh, he rose from his chair and walked away without saying another word.

※※※※※※※

"Tag, you’re it!" 

The voice rang sharply all throughout the building as Klaus hid behind the nearest corner. Even his own heartbeat seemed too loud suddenly. He tried not to breathe because his breathing was labored and heavy and would give him away too quickly. No more than two minutes had passed of Klaus running through the dark hallways thinking he might be able to escape, until Greg had made himself known. 

It was a trap. He should have known that Greg had not really forgotten to lock him in his prison securely. He should have known! 

Ben was gone now. He couldn't see him. He couldn't hear him. Ever since he first came to this god-awful place, his brother was no longer a constant in his life but a vague presence, flickering in and out of existence! He was alone. Completely alone and terrified. By now, Klaus felt like he was barely clinging to consciousness. He was ready to pass out and the adrenaline and fear rushing through him did little to remedy that fact. He didn't know where he was inside the building and he had no inkling of where the exit might be either. This was only one more of Greg’s sick games.

"Klaus!" Greg sang from further down the hall as Klaus pressed his back into the cold stone. He was freezing. His teeth were chattering. Surely, Greg could hear him! Certainly, he was only a few steps away now, ready to reach out and drag him back the way he came. "Where are you, Baby? We are not done playing yet!" 

Where was Ben when he needed him? He needed his brother! He needed his guidance! He needed Ben to tell him where to go! The world around him was pitch black. He had no idea where to go or where to hide and in a matter of seconds, Greg would have found him. And then what? Would he drag him back to that rotten room to torture him some more? Or would he finally kill him? He didn't want to die. Not like this. He didn't want to be found in some garbage container naked and half-rotten only for Diego to have to identify him. He couldn't do this to Diego. He couldn't become one more of those poor souls that had been found like this. Unlike them, he had someone who loved him, someone who was looking for him! He had hope! Knowing that, he couldn't imagine the dread those other guys had experienced before him. Knowing that no one would be coming for them. Knowing that no one was missing them. 

He pushed himself off the wall again and started staggering forwards as quietly as he possibly could. He could hear Greg whistle and the sound seemed to bounce off the barren walls all around him - making him impossible to track. The worst, however, was his sing-song voice echoing after him and the sharp scraping sound as he was dragging something metal across the walls. The sound chilled him to the core and made him want to curl up in a corner.

Suddenly, in the darkness, Klaus stumbled over something hard and cold and fell forward. As his body slammed into his obstacle, the sound echoes through the building but Klaus quickly realized, at least, that it were steps. A staircase! A way out! He could hear the sharp whistling of the late autumn winds outside. As quickly as he possibly could, he fought his way up the stairs on all fours while Greg’s whistling came closer and closer. He reached the top of the stairs in records time and there he bumped into another hard and unrelenting surface blocking his way. Klaus hid a dead end. He bumped right into a wall, unable to see anything in the pitch-black surrounding him. "No" He gasped. "No, no, no, no, no!"

His fingers brushed uselessly over the surface before him, scratching and scraping even though there were no fingernails left to actually scratch. Logically, he knew that no staircase led straight into a wall. Logically, he knew that it had to be a door there. Right now, however, panic was ruling his head. And then, by some miracle, he found a doorknob. He twisted it and it gave way. Cold air hit him square in the face as he opened the door. Above him, the stars were twinkling back down on him and the full moon granted him a rare smile. He was outside! 

Before the thought had time to fully sink in, Klaus was running again already. He was running without thinking about what he was doing or if it was what Greg wanted him to do. He was running without wasting a second to take in his surroundings. He could hear water splashing against something hard, he could hear a ship honk in the far distance. Was he at the harbor? He would know how to get back to Diego if that was the case! He would run naked and bloody and beaten through the entire city if that was the case! Somewhere in front of him, he could see some sort of chain link fence but he could see holes in it - big enough to squeeze through - and he could see the headlights of cars passing by.

"Hey!" He screamed as loudly as he possibly could, too desperate for help to care if he alerted Greg to his location as well. "Help! Please!" 

Klaus was almost at the fence, his eyes trained on one of the larger holes in it as something hard connected with the back of his skull. It wasn't enough to knock him out cold right away but he sure wished it had as he laid there on the ground, staring up at the starry sky and saw Greg’s face hovering above him with that menacing toothy grin he liked to wear.

"You wouldn't want to leave me already, do you, Baby?" 

**-End of Chapter 6-**


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 5**

_ Klaus was dancing in his tiny boiler room apartment. He watched him lazily as Klaus was swaying back and forth to a tune from the small transistor radio in his narrow kitchenette. The eggs he was cooking were sizzling in the pan on the hot plate. The heavenly scent of scrambled eggs was already filling the tiny space. Diego was too cheap to afford bacon but they made do with what little they had and he loved every single second of it. Diego remained lying in the bed that he had squeezed into the niche in the corner of the boiler room, one arm tucked under his head to better watch the man he loved without the need to move. Klaus had not yet realized that Diego had awoken from his slumber and Diego wanted to keep it that way for just a moment longer. He wanted to freeze this moment, consign it to memory to come back to it whenever the world would beat him down and made it impossible to soldier on.  _

_ His eyes darted over naked legs and quick feet, over Klaus’ perfect ass barely concealed by the pair of boxer shorts he stole from Diego, over his torso hidden underneath Diego’s shirt, over his bouncing curls. It was then, as Klaus did yet another surprise pirouette in front of the stove that Klaus’ green eyes met his and a surprised grin spread over his face. _

A sharp knock at his door pulled him from his slumber as if he had been doused in ice-water. "Hargreeves!" Oh, he knew that voice! And this tone … Well, it promised nothing good. 

With a groan, Diego slowly rolled out of bed despite his inner demon telling him to just play dead. Then again, there was no escaping what was waiting for him on the other side of that door. Quickly, he glanced at his watch. 7 AM. Another groan left his lips. He had gone to bed not even two hours ago. After Luther had left him at the library he had spent the entire rest of the day there trying to find out what he could about that dead guy with the name they were looking for, trying to find out all possible links to that name. Yet, he had come up empty-handed in the end. Only to venture to the graveyard where Gordon Johnson had been buried three years ago. He had been up all night, combing the city, going after every little lead he had gotten before his exhaustion had become too much. 

Ever since Klaus had disappeared, he hadn’t slept for more than one or two hours at a time. And when he did sleep, nightmares were punishing him for his lack of activity.

He was still in his complete get-up minus his harness with the knives and so he could just walk up to the door without the need to cover himself in any way. Not that Eudora wouldn't have seen him naked before but it seemed stupid to greet her in his birthday suit. At the very least, it would not give his arguments or his defense more weight but would only serve to make her even angrier than she already was. She wouldn't be here so early in the day if she wouldn't be angry. 

He opened the door just as Eudora’s knuckles rapped against it from the other side again and almost got her tiny fist in his eye as a result. "Good Morning, Officer Patch." He groaned. "What brings you to my humble abode at such an ungodly hour?" 

"Have you lost your mind completely now, Diego?" She hissed as he let her inside his apartment. She had never been to this place before and Diego turned his back to her as he ventured down the stairs back to the main room. He didn't wish to see pity or judgment in her eyes for his living situation. Realistically speaking, he was only barely better off than Klaus. Realistically speaking, he was homeless as well. 

"Please elaborate, Eudora. It's too early for me to solve any riddles and I didn't have coffee yet." 

"The motel?" She all but shouted as she slammed the door behind her and followed him. "The receptionist called the station to report an assault! He said two guys barged into the motel and threatened him with violence if he wouldn't show them the security tapes from Monday night - said something about how those guys told him they were looking for their lost brother and how he didn't buy it! Diego you can't keep running around threatening people like this because of Klaus!"

"Oh, wow slow down there, Officer!" Diego shot back and raised his hands placatingly even though he wanted to shout as he faced her again. "Didn't you pretty much tell me to go in there and demand information last time we went there together? Because you couldn't get it? Because your sacred paperwork always stands in the way of actually solving crimes?"

"You know that's-"

"The rules, yes!  _ That's why you got kicked out of the academy, Diego!  _ I know! Spare me! But you know what? At least I got a name!"

"What?" He felt a bit of triumph at her surprised face.  _ Yeah,  _ he thought, _ you didn't think I could actually get something out of this asshole, didn't you? _

"We found Klaus on the tapes in the company of a guy. Couldn't see the guy’s face though. He was very careful. Same for his license plate. Dirty beyond belief but I can give you a description of the car if you’d calm down."

She deflated at that but only slightly. "The  _ name, _ Diego."

"Gordon Johnson." He sighed. "But that's a dead end. Luther and I looked into this already. The only Gordon Johnson in this city who could've been a candidate died three years ago, aged twenty-two. Then there’s a five-year-old boy and an elderly guy in a retirement home."

"Well … couldn't it be the old guy?"

"Witnesses described a young man in his twenties."

"Maybe that guy was just the one taking the victims to the old dude, using his name as an alias because no one would suspect an elderly guy?"

"The old man has dementia, Patch." He sighed at last. Patch was fishing for any kind of evidence or clue in this case and although he was thankful that she was invested enough to do so and even though he himself was fishing as well, the truth just looked grim. "He has not left his retirement home for over a year and is under strict surveillance because he once had the tendency to sneak out at night. He’s clean." 

"Shit." Eudora breathed out.

"Yeah."

"The car?"

"Dark green 1990’s Honda Civic Si."

"An old car."

"Old but well taken care of. No bumps, no scratches as far as we could tell from the footage. Only the license plate was dirty." He scoffed. "He knew that the parking lot was under video surveillance. He’s smart. He knew that his car would show up on the footage. Maybe he even wanted it to show up on the footage. He knew that sooner or later someone would find this footage of the car and him - perhaps even his alias. He is playing games with the police - with us." 

"It's something." Eudora sounded defeated - and rightfully so. They had nothing. "Listen, Diego. No more of these stunts, okay? I can't use the name you’ve given me officially now but I can use the detail of the car. I could write in my report that one of the witnesses came forward and told me that they saw this car. I just need to be careful about it. At the very least I can run a check of how many cars like this are still driving around in the city right now. This might narrow it down."

"If it's not a stolen car."

"Yeah." Diego felt his shoulders slump slightly and Eudora squeezed his bicep in response. "I know it looks bleak but … We’ll find him, Diego." A part of him wanted to argue with her that this wasn’t what she really wanted. Sure, Eudora might not outright hate his brother and they both knew that their relationship might not have worked out regardless if Klaus was around or not but … Well, he doubted that she really cared about Klaus. She cared about the case. She cared about what Klaus’ death would do to Diego. Maybe that was enough.

"Probably in some dumpster with his throat slit."

※※※※※※※

_ Diego was dancing inside the tiny boiler room that he called home. He didn't know that Klaus was watching. He would have probably stopped right away and Klaus didn't want him to stop. He enjoyed watching him dance around to the radio - always had. Diego loved dancing. Not many people knew this about Diego but Klaus was privy to this information. Diego loved to dance but would only do so when he thought that no one was watching. Once Diego had found him drunk off his ass in a nightclub when they were fourteen. Of course, Diego had been sick with worry. They had danced together then instead of Diego dragging him back home by the hair. It had been innocent fun, just two teenage boys who happened to live under the same roof and were burdened with the same last name dancing together. Yet, Klaus knew exactly that it had been that night when the spark had been ignited between them.  _

_ They had always been close, always the most comfortable when circling in each other's orbit. Sun and Moon. But that night … he had seen the man his adopted brother would become then for the first time and had taken a liking to it. After that night, it had been a mess of stolen kisses, secret touches, lots of teeth and scratching because they had both still been so inexperienced. Diego hadn't been his first. In retrospect, he wished it would have been different. In retrospect, he wished that he would have waited and not have taken that pill he had been offered at the club once only to wake up alone in some random motel room naked and with no recollection of what happened.  _

_ But now he was here, watching Diego dance. He was a good dancer. He was the most gorgeous, the most sexy when he was dancing and thought no one was watching. If he would lose his memory right now, forget who he was and who Diego was, forget their past, forget their trials and tribulations, he would fall in love with him right here and now all over again just by watching him dance.  _

_ He wanted to freeze this moment forever, consign it to memory for the cold nights out in the streets when he couldn't come here to Diego, when he couldn't come home - because he had fucked it all up, because he had broken Diego’s heart over and over again and would continue to do so. Because he was cursed. Because everything that he touched turned black and ugly - like this tender little flower they had once held between their hands, this tiny, fragile little thing that was the love they felt for each other. He had ruined it. He had tainted it. And that, he could never take back. But now Diego was dancing and humming along with some Latin pop song that he would deny liking when someone would ask him about it. There were no secrets between them. He knew Diego more intimately than himself.  _

_ At this moment right here, he loved Diego so much that it physically pained him.  _

_ Perhaps it was the withdrawal. Diego had found him half dead in the streets, frozen to the core, sick and hungry and he had taken him here, told him he could stay forever if he would get clean. They both knew that Klaus never stuck to his promises. And yet, here he was, sick and miserable and in pain both from his love for Diego and from the withdrawal. His body was on fire but as Diego turned around in his dance and found him awake, his movement got more awkward and janky - deliberately so. A teenager in a man’s body, his confident grin slipping into a goofy smile and the wink Diego shot him tore a laugh from the bottom of his stomach.  _

_ The Kraken quickly bridged the distance, shimmying along to the song until he reached Klaus and tore his blanket away, leaving him cold and vulnerable in his sweat-soaked clothes. He was an ugly, pathetic mess right now but Diego looked at him as if he was the most precious thing. As he tugged at Klaus’ hand, he followed reluctantly and got slowly to his feet. His knees buckled under his weight but Diego caught him around the middle, directed his slim arms around his neck, and swayed with him on the spot. Their bodies moved in unison as Klaus allowed himself to sag against him in exhaustion, taking in the smell of the man he loved so desperately and so completely.  _

_ Home. He was home. _

A loud banging sound made him rip open his eyes, followed by that awful tune that left Greg’s lips in a sharp whistle. It was the tune of some old children's cartoon he had watched in secret with Ben and Diego when they were little and snuck into the kitchen in the early morning hours on the weekends. 

"Ah, you are awake!" Greg hummed as he walked around him. He had left him sitting in that wretched chair in the middle of the room, cold, naked, and miserable. By now, he was in the thick of his withdrawal. "Good! I was afraid you wanted to sleep through the entire day."

"Oh…" Klaus muttered but his throat was screamed raw and torn from the inside. He could taste iron on his tongue. "I would never. We are having so much fun, after all."

Greg dragged his right hand over his naked shoulder and he did his best to suppress a shudder. His hand was too warm against Klaus’ clammy skin. "That's what I thought too." Greg purred as he stopped in front of Klaus at last. He was not an ugly man. No, if anything, he was painfully normal looking and Klaus regretted ever going with him. That night he had met Greg, he should’ve just walked over to Diego again instead of hanging around the docks. He should've trusted his guts. Ben had told him to not go with the guy too but then he had flashed a few hundred bucks for an entire night at the motel and Klaus couldn't resist. 

He was so stupid. Diego had warned him and now here he was. 

"What are we playing today?" Klaus murmured even though exhaustion was trying to rip him apart from the inside. "I’m voting Uno. Or what about Backgammon? Monopoly?" 

"Have you ever been in love?" Well, that was a surprise question, wasn't it? "So madly in love that you would've done anything for that person? Even die?"

"I-"

"Of course, not. All you people do is spread your filth and kill others with it. You are incapable of loving another person." 

He had learned a lot about Greg those past days. And one thing especially: Greg could lose his temper within seconds. He could go from almost sincere and casual to complete psycho within seconds. You never know when he would explode or why. So, in the end, nothing could have warned Klaus or prepared Klaus for the hammer that slammed down on his left hand next. 

"You are left-handed, huh?" Greg taunted over Klaus’ agonized screams. "Well, my bad." 

He had long stopped asking himself or Greg why he was doing this. There was no  _ why _ , no rhyme or reason behind what he was doing. Diego had told him that a long time ago. At best there would be a flimsy explanation for how he was right and justified to do these horrible things to people like Klaus. And yet, Klaus could hear himself sobbing "Why" again as if he was still hoping for an answer that made any kind of sense.

"Because you took everything from me!" Greg suddenly thundered and the hammer came down again on his mangled hand.

※※※※※※※

He couldn't focus. It was impossible to focus on really anything let alone his work at the gym. Around him, the usual suspects were chatting at the side of the boxing ring or slamming their fists into the punching bags all around the gym. It was a nice, tight-knit little community they had going on here. Usually, Diego felt right at home here in the thick of it. No one was talking down on him either just because he was mopping the floors and had pretty much taken over the work of the gym’s janitor. They respected him no less as a fighter because he was homeless. Al expected him to be ready for his training in half an hour and before that he had to clean up the mess in the showers when all he wanted was to leave the gym and start up his search again. He couldn't do anything though until Eudora wouldn't have given him the input he needed. 

Mopping the floors was distracting but not even nearly enough, not when his head was filled with images of his brother dead in some alley, of his beautiful green eyes dull and without the spark of life in them. What caught his attention though was the sudden silence that fell over the gym as if a dark cloud had pushed the sun away. He felt a bit cold as he was prompted to glance over his shoulder at the sound of whispers raising around him.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next, though. Sir Reginald Hargreeves stood in the entrance of the gym, his trusty Number One right behind him like an awkward bodyguard. Reginald’s hands rested on the cane before him with the same serene calmness that Diego was used to seeing from the man who was always in control over everything and everyone around him. Even now. 

"That's the Monocle!" Someone close to Diego whispered sharply. "And Spaceboy!" 

Diego couldn't help but roll his eyes. Even after all those years, people still referred to them all by their stupid little nicknames. He hated his father for showing up at his work. No one knew about his identity as a former kid-superhero here. He was just Diego. However, Al’s eyes found his and the look he gave Diego spoke volumes. Diego gave an exasperated sigh as he leaned his mop against the nearest wall and stepped towards his father.

"Number Two." His father greeted as coldly and impersonal as only he could muster while Diego briefly noticed how the others around him started looking at him in confusion and surprise. "I must say I can only express my disappointment with your living situation. Your brother told me, that you are living in some run-down boiler room in this boxing gym. You have fallen low."

"Yeah, I’m glad to see you too, Dad." He shrugged and didn't even bother lowering his voice. The cat was already out of the bag, after all. "I hoped the next time I would see you, you would be in a coffin." 

"Insolent without fail much like your brother."

"Which one?" Diego huffed in amusement while Luther just looked plain uncomfortable behind their father - perhaps even a little guilty too. "I have a few. No … I used to have a few." 

"The one that brought me to that  _ hole  _ you are working and living in." As always, his father was not easy to throw off. His voice, as he continued to speak remained calm and devoid of any emotion. He might as well be talking about the stock market. "Number One told me all about the disappearance of Number Four."

Diego found himself glaring at Luther with new poison rushing through his veins. This fucking traitor. But Luther looked away guiltily. So, at least he knew what Diego thought about this. He had told Luther that he didn't want their father involved and yet Luther had gone behind his back and told Reginald. 

"I have everything under control. I don't need your  _ help  _ and I ask you to leave, Sir."

"We should not discuss this here, Number Two." Reginald droned on but directed a small casual wave of his hand at their surroundings. He didn't want a scandal. He didn't want a scene in front of all these ordinary people. A part of Diego wanted to throw a tantrum. "The car is waiting outside. You will join me and Number One at the mansion to discuss our next steps."

" _ Our  _ next steps?" Diego finally erupted. Maybe throwing a tantrum was indeed in order now. "Are you fucking kidding me? There is no our next steps, Dad! You didn't care about Klaus for years! You didn't care if he was even still alive out there or how he was doing after you kicked him out! You didn't care if he was freezing to death out there and now suddenly you come here and decide to play the good father for once? After everything, you did to us? Oh, but I get it!" He grinned now - all teeth and no humor. "You are afraid! You are afraid that Klaus will be found like the others and that word goes out who he is! You are afraid useless Number Four will even in death manage to put a dent in your reputation! Fuck you!" 

They were the main attraction for the usuals at the gym and Al and a part of Diego felt horribly embarrassed because of it. So much for his normal life. So much for being just Diego. Just a normal guy. Now everyone he could have had a casual conversation with at the gym knew that he was an umbrella kid and what that entailed he had learned a long time ago. As soon as the other trainees in the police academy had known his identity, it had been over for him. Not that he had been bullied but the constant taunting had been draining and exhausting. Sure, he shouldn't have reacted the way he had back in the day and certainly, he shouldn't have started a fistfight with another guy but … well, there was a reason why he was no longer part of the force. 

"Diego." Luther’s pleading voice caught his attention. As he looked at Luther now, his blue eyes seemed sincere and almost pleading. "Please. We found something. It may be a lead." 

"I have my own leads." 

"Together we are stronger," Luther argued and stepped forward, finally stepping out of line, out of Dad’s overbearing shadow. Maybe his brother did in fact have a spine. "I want our brother back safe just as much as you do. I don't want to have the police tell me he was killed. Please, Diego." 

He didn't want to give in. Everything inside of him revolted against the thought of giving in just because Luther came here and said ‘pretty please’. "I have work to do. You know, Luther, like actual adults? Unlike you, I can't just sit around the house all day and live off our father’s money. I have actual adult responsibilities. Maybe you would benefit from it if you would get a real job too."

"Diego-"

"I give you the day off." Al suddenly chimed in from behind his counter, his face stoic as always, his hands resting firmly on the countertop before him, his brows narrowed and his dark eyes fixed sternly on Diego. "You’ve never taken a day off since you started working for me. I guess you could use one right now." There was no mistaking his words for kindness, though. This was an order. He didn't want to be friendly. He wanted to tell him ‘Go sort yourself out and don't you ever bring your family drama to my gym again’. 

"Thanks, Al." He huffed. Admitting defeat was the one thing he had always hated the most yet it was a very familiar experience. Being Number Two entailed losing to someone else, after all. His whole life he had been Number Two. His whole life he hadn't been good enough, never been able to quite cut it. Always the second choice. Even for Klaus. Klaus had chosen the drugs over him many times before and still, Diego was desperate enough for his touch to always take him back again and again and again. "I’m gonna get my stuff." He sighed as he glared at his father. "I’m probably gonna spend the night." 

If it meant getting Klaus back safely, he would even go as far as to kiss the old man on the mouth or give Luther a fucking blow job. He didn't care. He just wanted Klaus safe. 

"We are waiting in the car. No dilly-dallying, Number Two. Time is of the essence."

With a groan, he turned back around and stalked through the gym without looking at anyone. He couldn't bear looking at his fellow gym-acquaintances. It would mean he would acknowledge his defeat and until now, the Kraken, had never been defeated in this gym. He hadn't seen his father since he had moved out of the house and being back in his presence was like being an awkward teenager in a school uniform all over again. He felt little and weak and not half the man he was, his accomplishments diminished and belittled. He felt his skin crawl as he reached the boiler room and slipped inside. 

Diego allowed himself a moment to lean against the door and take a deep breath. Going back to this house was like walking straight into a nightmare. And this nightmare had claws and teeth. It felt worse this time around. Last time he had gone there willingly to find Luther so that his brother might help him find Klaus. This time, he would go back to the house with his father, forced to work with the old man. This nightmare was going to swallow him whole.

Finally, he pushed off the wall and staggered down the stairs. Quickly, he changed from his gym clothes into his normal stuff, slipped into his heavy boots and grabbed his case with the knives he had taken from the house. They were engraved with the Umbrella Academy logo on one side and had been the only gift of his father to him that had been of actual worth to Diego. Not that it had been meant as a gift or that his father was known to give his children gifts regularly. 

After he had gathered everything that he would need he was ready to leave and stomped up to the door only to turn back around and walk back to his kitchenette again. The note Klaus had written him when this mess had started hung on his mini fridge with a magnet just like that crappy polaroid photo that they had once taken together. Klaus had stolen the camera from some vintage shop and had thrown it away right after he had taken this photo of Diego and him snuggled up in bed. He took both things, folded them carefully, and stuffed them into the breast pocket of his jacket. 

Then he was ready to leave and a part of him wondered if he would ever return to this place.

**-End of Chapter 7-**


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there will be a rape scene in this chapter. Please feel free to scroll past it if you are uncomfortable with this kind of stuff

By now, the ghosts had become clearer. It weren’t so many that they filled up the entire room but more than Klaus could stomach - the wounds they portrayed on their mutilated bodies too familiar to even look at them. For the first time since this god-awful gift had first manifested inside of him, Klaus was scared - not of the ghosts, though, but of what they kept telling him about his own impending doom. 

No one would come to save him. He knew that Diego was out there somewhere looking for him, searching for him, panicked, terrified, worried out of his mind. There was no question about that. None at all. He knew he was out there. And he knew that Diego had no chance of finding him in time. That was what the ghosts said too. 

Seven days. That’s what Diego had told him in the beginning of this. Greg kept his victims alive for seven days and Klaus … He had no idea how much more time he had. He just wished he could have said his goodbyes. He just wished he could have made it up to Diego for all the heartache he had caused. He just wished he could have gotten one last chance to reconnect with all his siblings. He just wished he could have seen Allison and Vanya and Luther's faces one last time. Fuck, he even wished that he could have gotten the chance to reconnect to his father and talk everything out for once.

However, as Greg opened the door the next time, death seemed like mercy and Klaus was ready to embrace this gift.

※※※※※※※

"Gordon Johnson" His father began as he was leading his sons to his office. Reginald Hargreeves had only rarely allowed his children inside his inner sanctum. And every time he had allowed them entry, it had been mostly Luther and Diego in their role as his lieutenants. Allison too on occasion. 

It seemed oddly fitting that it was the two of them that stepped inside this office now again, ready to receive another briefing for yet another mission. Reginald Hargreeves’ right-hand man and his second in command. Because to his father, this was a mission - nothing more. Diego knew that Reginald couldn't care less if Klaus would find his premature end as long as it wouldn't have effects on his reputation. After all, the general public held Sir Reginald in high regard, viewing him as a good person, a saint, really. It would look bad on him if he had not done everything in his power to find his missing son before he would inevitably be found dead. Not to mention the media outcry when it would become public that one of his sons, one of the former members of the Umbrella Academy, had been a junkie hooker. 

"died in November 2008, three years ago, at the age of twenty-two." He continued just as they reached the office and stepped inside. He watched how his father immediately went over to his desk to sit down like he always did. 

"We already know that." Diego scoffed and crossed his arms in dismissal. Still, he was angry that he had to be here now and yet he was doing this for Klaus. Only for Klaus. "If that's the information I came here to get, Dad, it's a waste of time." 

"That is the same age most of the victims of the serial killer shared." His father droned on as if he hadn't even heard Diego’s comment and took a seat in his throne behind his massive oak wood desk. Only then, Diego noticed the documents strewn across the surface of the desk. His father’s desk had always been all kinds of messy but these documents looked decidedly different than the usual ancients texts. All kinds of official-looking files, a yearbook from Oldbrook High in downtown, photos. Not what he expected to see on his father’s desk. "His oldest victim, Thomas Lansbury, was killed at the start of September this year, aged 25. Needless to say, this would be the age Gordon would have been, had he not died."

"Yeah … So?" Diego asked with defiance but Luther gave him a sideways look that clearly said ‘Dude, listen’. "Okay, so, I take it that this Thomas guy is important somehow since he was not only the oldest victim but also the one you decided to bring up right away. So, not only was he the oldest victim, but he was also the first since the killer started around two months ago?"

"At least as far as we know. He could have killed for a longer time and only now decided to make his work known to the world. Most known serial killers are like this. They start out hidden away from the world. Their first kills are mostly clumsy. They have to find their  _ style  _ first, their routine, before they make a name for themselves. But all serial killers thrive on the attention the media gives them and the names they receive. The Green River Killer, the Nightstalker, BTK - you name them."

"Yeah, sure." Diego sighed. "Dad, I really don't need a lesson about serial killers right now. We are running out of time here. Eudora said the victims are kept alive for approximately seven days each time. One died after five days but that could have been an accident caused by his poor health. Klaus has been gone for five days now. We have only two days to find him at best. We can't waste time now with lectures about serial killers. Please just cut to the chase, would you?"

"Impatient and improper as always, Number Two." 

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know yet. So, they thrive on the attention, okay, and our killer probably likes it that we call him The Ripper, as an homage to Jack the Ripper, who too killed prostitutes during the Autumn of terror in 1888. But I doubt that he planned all that, right? After all, the general public doesn't know that the victims were hookers - or junkies. So, what's your point here?"

"The motive." 

"Yes?"

"Have you not asked yourself about the motive?"

"No! I have asked myself who the fuck Gordon Johnson is and where my brother is!" 

"To find a killer, you need to understand who he is and for that, you need to understand his motive.  _ Why  _ he is killing." Look who sounded impatient now! 

"And if he just likes to kill?" Luther offered a bit helplessly. 

"Then" Diego sighed and dragged a hand over his face. "the question would be why he kills like he kills. Why does he kill them in this particular way? Why does he torture them beforehand? Why does he kill this particular group of people? Why gay prostitutes? Why junkies? Why this particular type of man?"

For once, Reginald gave a rare nod of approval in his direction and folded his hands under his chin, watching Diego like a hawk. "So, what do we know, Number Two?"

"We know that Gordon Johnson is dead. At least the only Gordon Johnson who was in the run for Ripper of the year. We know that Gordon Johnson is probably an alias. We know the Ripper drives a 1990’s Honda Civic Si in dark green. We know the Ripper looks like an ordinary guy and that he finds his victims mostly near the docks and convinces them to go with him to a motel for sex. We know that he probably only kidnapped them after he has had sex with them first - probably to make it look normal for them. We don't know how he kidnaps them. He could be drugging them after the fact or when he has them back in his car and offers them to drive them back. I feel this is more plausible. He would have the victims feel safe inside his car because they now feel safe in his presence since everything went normal. Inside his car, he could easily jam a needle in their necks." 

While he rattled all of his down, he couldn't help but imagine this with Klaus. Klaus going into that motel room with that guy. Klaus having sex with him like with any other customer. Klaus accepting his offer to be driven back to where he had been picked up. Klaus getting into the car. A needle in his neck.

"Focus," Reginald said as if he knew what was happening in Diego’s head. Fuck, the old man probably did know. So, he rubbed his eyes and began pacing. 

"Okay, so. We probably know how he gets them. We know he tortures them for approximately seven days - meaning, his victims have to go through withdrawals and torture at the same time - which weakens them further. We know he rapes them repeatedly - but is clever enough to use protection. Either to not get caught or to not get sick. Either way, the raping of his victims could be considered unusual."

"Why?" Luther asked honestly confused and as his father gave a wave of his hand, Diego continued his explanations.

"Rape is about power, Luther. It's about desire, yes, about urges too - but mainly it's about power. Having power over another person. Degrading them. Humiliating them. Most serial killers who rape their victims would just do it and kill them - maybe torture them, sure. But usually, they would not take them to a motel, have sex with them like nothing was wrong only to then take them and rape them. Why rape a person who willingly gave their body to you already? Unless it is about the fantasy. I feel there is a deeper motive behind it than just that, though."

"And the torture? The withdrawals?" Reginald asked.

"He enjoys it." Diego shrugged.

"Why?"

"I don't know, Dad! Because he is a sick fucking bastard!"

"Punishment?" Luther tried again from where he was leaning against a wall. This was not his forte. He was not stupid. Not by a long shot. But Diego was admittedly better at this detective work. "I mean … why do people torture other people? Out of fun, excitement, pleasure - but also for punishment, right? He wants to punish them." 

"Yes, I agree." Reginald nodded. As a child, he would have given everything to receive that kind of praise from his father - because it felt like praise. The simple fact that his father thought he was right felt like praise to him. Wasn’t that just sad? "But for what?"

"Gordon Johnson." Diego sighed. "It comes back to him. It always comes back to him."

"So … Gordon Johnson holds significance, I guess?" Luther asked. "I mean, sure, the Ripper could have taken his name randomly as an alias, knowing that the guy was dead but since all the victims seemed to be around his age when he died, I feel his name means something."

"Gordon Johnson died from an infection as a result of an illness," Reginald stated finally and grabbed one of the files from his desk to give to Diego. Diego paused for a second before he walked over to the desk and reluctantly grabbed the file. He immediately flicked it open and almost took a double-take. There was a photo. The first photo he ever got to see of Gordon Johnson. And, hadn't he known that it wasn't possible, he would have thought he was staring at his own brother’s face. "He was HIV positive and, a few months before his death, the illness had progressed into AIDS. He could have lived maybe a year or two more but even before the illness, he had been in bad health. Three weeks before his death, he got sick and the infection was, in the end, what killed him."

As Luther peered over his shoulder, he took a gasp. "He looks like Klaus." He whispered as if Diego or his father had not already realized this. "He could almost be his twin."

"So … there we have the connection to the victims of the Ripper? Is that it? Gordon Johnson? The killer hunts down guys that look like Gordon? That can't be all. At least … I mean … Maybe Gordon infected him? Maybe the killer got sick from him and never got the chance to have his revenge on him? Is that why he kills guys that look like him?" It was an idea, at least. Perhaps not the best one but since when did psychopaths need a complicated reason to carry out their crimes?

"It is a possibility," Reginald replied.

"But then what? That doesn't help us find the killer, that just shows us the connection." It was frustrating. So, unbelievably frustrating. They knew more than the police now and it didn't help them one bit.

"I have here Gordon Johnson’s yearbook from his last year in high school and every scrap of information that could be found about his life." Reginald gestured towards his desk. "We will now try to find a person in his inner circle who might know someone who might fit our killer’s profile."

"But who knows that the killer actually was part of his life?" Diego groaned. "They could have hooked up once or twice and not really known each other!"

"It is the only thing we have right now." Luther sighed and clasped Diego’s shoulder. It may be a simple enough gesture for some but it filled Diego with a tiny bit of comfort - with the knowledge that his ‘big brother’ had his back for once. For the first time in their lives together in this house and as brothers, they were on the same side. Not enemies or rivals. Brothers. United by the same goal and while Luther might never be the greatest detective mankind had ever seen, he was willing to help as best as he could. They were closer to their goal then they had been before and yet it felt like they were even farther away. 

※※※※※※※

**Day 6**

The ghosts were unbearably loud now. They kept demanding his full attention, hovering close by when he was not locked inside the coffin in the corner and Klaus tried not to look at them. He knew he looked just like them - not just physically but he shared their wounds too. He was just as mangled and broken as they were. The worst was their wailing. The worst was it when they would wail in his ear while Greg was holding him down on the ground to fuck him. Not that he would have much energy to fight back anymore. He was starving and in dire need of something to drink. Greg only gave him some water when he knew he absolutely had to in order to keep Klaus alive a bit longer for his sick games.

Ben was by his side as Greg pushed deeper and he wished he wouldn't be there. Ben had always been with him since his death, witness to every fucked-up thing that Klaus had done or that had happened to him. This was different though. He didn't want him here, didn't want him to see this, didn't want his helpless eyes on him while another man was fucking him with no mercy or concern for his injuries or his comfort. 

He had seemed so nice when they had met at the docks. Just a normal dude. Friendly. Nice smile. The boy next door whom he would ask for flour after realizing he had none in the middle of baking a cake. Not too handsome, but not ugly either. A guy some lucky lady would want a future with and a white picket fence. 

But it was that same normal dude from next door who was tearing at his insides now. Greg’s right arm wrapped around his neck from behind and his thighs were shoved farther apart by his captor’s body - effectively pinning him down to the ground with his entire weight. He should be used to this by now. Greg was not the first guy to take what he wanted and he wouldn't be the last. 

He couldn't breathe. Black dots at the edge of his field of vision came threateningly back into focus, urging him to just pass out - to not feel anymore. If he would just allow his brain to get dark, all of this would be over and he wouldn't need to deal with it. Death seemed like a friend anyway. Death had always been a companion for Klaus ever since he was a little boy screaming in the dark of an ancient mausoleum. 

Why shouldn't he just give in? He could see Death standing at the door now, with its arms wide open. Why wouldn't he leave this broken shattered body and find comfort in Death’s embrace? Death was not a skeleton in a black hooded robe. Death was a real creature with a real face and a tender smile on their lips. He could see it.

"You deserve this." Greg’s voice came out as a groan from behind accompanied by a thrust of his hips, ripping him apart piece by piece.

"Don't listen to him," Ben said resolutely from beside him. He wished he wasn't there. He wished Ben wasn't there. "You’ll survive this. Diego is gonna find you."

"All of you deserve this!"

"Diego is coming!"

"No, Benny." He choked with a sob. He squirmed in desperation against the chokehold he was in while he was unable to even scream in pain from the movement of Greg’s cock buried deep inside of him. "No … He’s not coming, Benny…"

※※※※※※※

Reading about Gordon Johnson’s life through the articles their father had found or his yearbook was a strange sensation. He used to be a normal boy, raised by loving parents with a loving little sister. Good looking, smart, kind - the picture-perfect child. The perfect son. The golden boy. And that should tip any parent off, right? And it was what tipped Diego off. No one was this perfect. No child ever was this perfect.

"Oh, Gordy was all but perfect." 

Rebecca Johnson, the sister of the dead Gordon Johnson huffed as she offered the brothers a seat on her comfortable green couch in her cluttered living room. She was an art student and by some miracle not the starving type. Well, since her brother was dead, her parents had only her left and were apparently not reluctant to pour their money into their daughter now. Diego idly wondered if Rebecca held any resentment for her brother because her parents had probably favored him over her as it was so often the case. She was the spare. At least that was the impression that Diego had gotten from everything he had managed to find about her. 

"I mean, my parents thought he was, sure. He gave his best to look and act the part too but that was it: an act. Don't get me wrong, I loved my brother more than anything, always looked up to him as a little girl but … Well, the older I got the more and more cracks appeared in the facade, you know? It was like taking off the rose-colored glasses once I became a teen myself. I think my parents saw them too - the cracks, I mean. They just … refused to acknowledge them. It seemed easier this way. Made it less real, I guess."

Just like the parents of serial killers or school shooters refused to see the cracks in the facades of their picture-perfect children, right? It was easier and much more comfortable to just pretend everything was fine - until it came crashing down on them.

Finding the address of Rebecca Johnson had been easy enough after they had found out her name from Gordon’s files. Hoping that they might be able to get any kind of information out of her about Gordon and who might have been involved in his life so closely that it might fit their killer’s profile, the brothers had headed out to her after a quick call first thing in the morning. Fuck, they had spent all night in this office in the academy, pouring over documents and pinning photos to the wall, trying to find connections in all this mess.

Rebecca Johnson was a chatty young woman. Younger by three years than her brother, she was the same age as the Umbrella Academy kids and that had come in their favor. The moment Sir Reginald had called her on speakerphone and said his name, Rebecca Johnson had erupted in sheer joy. Once a fan of their childhood adventures, she had quickly agreed to meet them and talking about her dead brother. They had told her simply that they were trying to solve an old case and that her brother’s past might help them do so. She was chatty … and terribly naive. 

"So … He was not the Prince Charming he made himself to look like." Diego summarized with a sigh as he and Luther got comfortable on her sofa just as Rebecca poured them both a glass of ice tea. Cold ice tea in the middle of winter. Well, she was quirky. He was craving coffee after working through the entire night. Luther had dark circles under his eyes and wouldn't it be for their childhood training, he would probably fall asleep right here and now next to Diego on the couch.

"God no!" She laughed. "I mean, he was kind and a good guy, of course, but … Gordy had his flaws, you know? My parents would have forgiven him anything really … and they did, for the longest time. It was different with me, of course. I just had to sneeze in the wrong direction and was grounded. But Gordy was living a double life." She took a sip from her own ice tea and sat down on a comfortable looking plush armchair across from Diego, her brown eyes resting on him. 

The moment they had stepped through her door, she had clearly taken a liking to Number Two, even though her favorite used to be Five until he vanished. She had told them all about how hard it had hit her when he had vanished and how she had spent days crying in her bed, inconsolable because everyone thought that he was dead.

"He was gay, you see? But my parents didn't know and Gordy always made sure to be seen with loads of girls to keep up the charade. In high school, he even had a pretend girlfriend. Susan. His highschool sweetheart. They even got crowned prom king and queen. He was that kinda guy. Susan’s parents loved him too because he was so proper and never tried anything with Susan. I don't know if Sue even knew that he was gay. She probably didn't and she probably didn't care. She had Prince Charming as her boyfriend, after all, and could parade him around in front of the entire school. In high school stuff like this is the only thing that matters. Before his death, he had a long term boyfriend though. Right after finishing high school, he broke up with Susan. Said it was because she wanted to go to Harvard and he didn't want to move so far away. In fact, he already had this boyfriend at the side. Even when he was officially with Sue. I got to meet him a few times. Nice guy, really. Even our parents met him once. Gordy told them that he was his best friend. Poor Mike … He loved my brother so much. I was sure they would get married someday, adopt a bunch of kids, and leave Gordy's wild days behind them."

"Wild days?" Luther echoed with sudden intrigue. There they were, Diego thought, the cracks in the facade Rebecca had warned them about. 

"My brother used to hang around with the wrong people when he was a teen, got a bit into drugs - not heavily though. A joint here, a pill at a rave there. Something like this. Not too concerning, I would say. Before he met Mike and while he was still in high school and with Sue, he slept around quite heavily on parties and raves where people didn't know him." She gave a soft sigh. Not disappointed. Sad. And Diego echoed her feeling of sadness. He could understand her in this way. He had felt the same kind of sadness for Klaus when he had started to throw away his body and dignity at parties.

"His death must’ve been devastating." Luther then said.

"Yeah." She sighed again and allowed her shoulders to drop a bit more. "It was a shock … when he told us that he was HIV positive. My parents were heartbroken. They didn't understand why or how this could’ve happened to their golden boy."

"How did he … get it?" Diego wasn’t even sure he wanted to know. All of this hit just too close to home for him right now.

"He told my parents that he was attacked during a rave. A crazy junkie had injured him with a used syringe." She shook her head. "That was, of course, complete bullshit but my parents decided to believe it because they didn't want to hear the truth. They always ate up whatever bullshit Gordy was feeding them. It was easier this way."

"And … what was the truth?" Luther inquired and leaned forward in his seat.

"Well, since he started dating Mike, Gordy was faithful - truly." She smiled. "He really loved Mike, you see? He didn't have a reason to cheat. Except for this one time. Mike had been out of town and Gordy had met up with some of his old friends from his wild days in high school. They went to a rave together, took drugs together - the hard shit. Gordy told me the next morning that he slept with another junkie that night. Well, turned out the other guy was a prostitute and his pimp beat Gordy up for not wanting to pay. Needless to say, in his intoxicated state, he didn't use protection and voila - there you go." 

"How did he know that he got it from that guy?" A picture was forming in Diego’s head and he didn't like it one bit. He could feel the puzzle pieces falling into place already. Sure, Gordon’s story was tragic but he had no empathy for him. He had dug that hole himself.

"He had no doubts about it." Becca sighed. "His friends knew the guy. They told him later that the dude was running around spreading his disease like wildfire just out of spite. Apparently, he got it from a customer once and since … he wanted to get back on men who would pay a guy like him, you know? It's … all kinds of fucked up, but that's what happened."

"And … his boyfriend, Mike, how did he react?" Diego knew how he would have reacted. He would have searched this guy and beaten the crap out of him.

"Not at all." Becca huffed. "When he found out, it was too late. He kept it a secret from Mike for about a year before it developed into AIDS and then he was too afraid to say anything. He tried dumping Mike but … instead, Mike proposed to him and Gordy … Gordy never had much of a spine, you know? To Gordy, it was always easier to just play along. He accepted but he never planned on coming clean or even telling our parents the truth. A couple of months later, he called me in the middle of the night. He was already sick then. It was shortly before his death. And he cried his eyes out because he thought he’d gotten his boyfriend sick as well. After the proposal … Mike wanted to stop using condoms, you see? After all, they were in a committed relationship, right? And Gordy didn't have the spine to tell him that they needed it."

"Fuck." Diego groaned and ruffled his hair. Fuck this guy. Fuck guys and girls like this.

"Yeah." She nodded quietly and lowered her gaze in shame almost. She felt responsible for her brother’s actions in a way and once again Diego could sympathize with her in that regard. "Two weeks later, he was dead. He’d gotten pneumonia and then an infection and since he didn't do anything about his sickness … Well, that was that. And that's how Mike learned the truth." 

"And … Did Gordon infect him?" Luther asked with concern written all over his face now. He knew what his brother was thinking. But their killer always used protection, right? He just hoped he did. Then again, what reason would there be to spread a disease when you are planning on killing your victims anyway? 

"Mike came to me about three weeks after the funeral. His test had come back positive and he was … livid. Devastated. He had lost the love of his life and that same person had also snatched his life away just like this. I really felt for him."

"Do you still have contact?" Diego asked as he cleared his throat. He could understand this Mike-guy too. Losing the love of your life only to learn that this same person had betrayed you in such a way? Brutal. 

"No." She shuddered. "God no."

"Why? What happened?"

"Mike he … He was nice, yes, but he had always been a bit obsessive and aggressive sometimes." She shrugged as she was trying to find the right words to describe her dead brother’s boyfriend. "Gordy was his whole entire world and after his death, he just lost it, you know? He lost his job, went out on a bender every night, got into fights … I thought that was normal but then … then he became different - quieter. He told me once about how he wanted to rid the world of every person who was like the guy who did this to his Gordy. He frightened me … but then he became normal again. Completely. It was like nothing happened, as if he had just flipped a switch in his brain. And that scared me even more." 

"Does he still live in this city?"

"I think so, yes. I saw him in town a few weeks ago but he didn't see me. I think he’s running a bookstore on Main now."

"Could you give us his full name?" Luther was already pulling his little notebook out of the breast pocket of his coat ready to write it down. 

"Sure." She smiled. "It's Michael Gregory Hendricks." 

**-End of Chapter 8-**


	9. Chapter 9

**Day 6**

The bookstore was right in front of them as the two brothers sat in Diego’s car staring straight ahead down the road. Gordon’s Corner Bookstore. That was the name of the shop and it couldn't have been more on the nose that Michael had never gotten over the death of his former fiance. They had been watching the store for about an hour now, waiting for anything to happen besides customers filing in and out of the store.

"I wanted to say" Luther began suddenly and without a warning. "that I’m sorry."

"For what?"

"Involving Dad without warning you." Luther shrugged. "I didn't see it at first but … You had something good there, at that gym with those strangers. I can't imagine what it was like to go through life after the academy and having all those other people reminding you of the academy all the time. I never left so I didn't have this problem. I never … I always liked being part of the academy, liked being Number One. But you guys … You just wanted to forget and move on and now you can’t anymore because the people at the gym know who you are now."

"It's okay." Diego sighed but didn't look at his brother as he said it. It wasn’t okay that he no longer had his normal life. Still, lying to Luther felt like the sensible thing right now. "If you hadn't involved Dad … I would still be in the dark about this guy here. Fuck … I would love to just go inside and rip him apart but we have to sit out here waiting until he comes out and drives to his fucking murder den. Klaus might as well be already dead and we just sit here." 

Luther’s big hand landed almost affectionately on his shoulder to give it a squeeze. "We’ll find him, Diego." He promised yet again but no matter how often he would claim that they would find Klaus in time, Diego couldn't believe him just like this. The odds were severely stacked against them. 

"I can't lose him." Diego sighed and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel in front of him. He had demanded they would take his car as it would draw less attention than the Rolls Royce. "Not like this. Not after everything. I can't, Luther." 

"I get it." Luther sighed and though Diego gave a snort, he didn't get angry. "I do. I let Allison go and that was the biggest mistake of my life. I should've followed her to L.A., left with her when she asked me to. Now I have lost her forever and that’s my own fault. There is no one I can blame for that but myself. You and Klaus … I never understood it, to be honest. And I was … angry, sometimes. And jealous."

"What?"

"I was jealous because you guys were not too afraid to get what you wanted despite the ramifications." Luther tried shooting for an explanation. Diego, on the other hand, was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was really having this kind of conversation right now with good old Number One. "I was too afraid to tell Allison how I felt but you guys … you knew and you took your chances. And then I was angry because I had to witness how Klaus played with you, you know?"

"He didn't-"

"No, I know." Luther shrugged. "I know. But … Back then I thought he did. I thought that you were more invested in this relationship than he was and that you had to suffer the brunt of all the heartache and disappointment while he was running around jumping from bed to bed. And I … I couldn't understand it. I was angry with him for being such a bitch to you and I was angry with you for allowing him to treat you like crap. I hated to see it. I hated to see how Klaus was throwing himself away like this and how you would always be there when he needed you again."

"Wow, it's almost as if you would care."

"I do." Luther huffed. "And sometimes I wished I wouldn't care. But I do care about you guys. You’re my brothers and I love you and I don't want either one of you to get hurt in this. I just wished Klaus would … just get his shit together and finally realize what he has with you."

"He knows." Diego shrugged with a small smile. "He’s just … Klaus. Listen, Luther, am I happy with the arrangement we had those past couple of years? No. Of course, not. Who would be? I love him. Not like a brother or a friend or some fuck-buddy. I love him. And it tears me apart to know that he’s selling himself for drugs and money. I hate that he comes to me when he gets desperate and then leaves me again. But I have learned a long time ago that I cannot tie him down. I would destroy him if I tried. If this is all I get … Well, I’ll take it. As long as it means he’s safe and alive."

"I don't know how you do it."

"Me neither." 

The brothers fell into an almost comfortable silence again and just as Luther opened his mouth to speak again they noticed a cop car driving past them and pull into the parking spot on the other side of the road. Diego watched how Eudora got out of the driver’s seat and put her hat on to slowly walk towards the bookstore.

"What is she doing here?"

"The car." Luther gasped. "She’s here because of the car!"

"No way!" She had actually taken this seriously? Diego kept his eyes glued to the store as he watched her walk into the store. Looking around the street, however, Diego came to notice that there was no green Honda Civic Si anywhere to be seen. Sure, this Mike-guy fits the bill for a serial killer perfectly but … the car. It was nowhere. Just because the guy fit the candidate, it didn't mean it really was him, after all. There was still this one grain of doubt.

Five minutes after first entering the store, Eudora came back out and went back to the car before her eyes suddenly darted to the other side of the road and found Diego and Luther. He gave a small wave but Eudora rolled her eyes and got into her car instead of coming to them. Just a minute later, his army radio crinkled. 

"Bondage Idiot, here is Eagle 1. Bondage Idiot, please come in."

Luther actually barked out a laugh at that and Diego, with a roll of his eyes, picked up the radio and pushed the speak button. "Eagle 1, here’s Batman. What do you want?"

"Yeah, no, we are not calling you that," Eudora replied dryly. "What I want? What are  _ you  _ doing here?"

"Stakeout." Diego shot back with a huff but before she could start asking again, he pushed the button again. "Why were you here?"

"I asked the owner of the bookstore about his car. Turns out he’s the last person on my list of people who had this particular car at one point."

"What did he say?"

"He claims it was stolen three years ago." Three years. It always came back to Gordon Johnson’s death. "And why are you watching him?"

"Well, turned out this guy is the ex-fiance of the dead Gordon Johnson."

"The alibi-man?" He didn't like lying to Eudora. Well, technically, he wasn’t lying just playing dumb, right? Still, he didn't like it one bit. 

"Exactly." 

She was silent for another moment before finally: "Diego … You should stay out of this then. I’m gonna come back with my partner and we will start grilling him about Johnson. You’ll see, if he’s the killer he will crack-"

"No!" Diego erupted. "Just this one time, do it my way, Eudora! If you go there with Chuck, this asshole will be tipped off and he will either run and hide or he will go to his hiding spot to finish Klaus off!" Not to mention that he would do exactly that anyway in the next 24 hours. "If he’s not already tipped off by you going to him about the car!" 

"I can't just let you handle this. Diego, this is your last warning, you hear me? You’ll stay put. You don't do anything with this guy. You let the police do the work. Otherwise, I will have to arrest you for obstruction of justice or something else. I guess there are enough offenses on the list to choose from in your case." 

"Patch-"

"Over and out." 

※※※※※※※

Ben was getting on his nerves. He felt sorry because of it - of course, he did. But it didn't change the fact that he was annoyed by Ben. His brother was constantly hovering, looking more vibrant and alive than he had when he had actually been breathing oxygen. While Klaus was fading and withering away each day more and more, Ben seemed to become more and more tangible - and so did the other ghosts inside the room. 

His brother never left his side and although he was happy for that fact in a way, right now, he couldn't cope with the amounts of cheerleading that Ben was doing. His brother kept repeating over and over again that he would be saved, that someone would come to save him and that he would not end up like the others when it was simply not true. There was no way that someone - anyone - would come to his rescue at this point. 

He could feel his life drain away like the blood that he had shed in this room. He didn't know when he had last gotten a few sips of water but it must be days now. He was dehydrated and weak, his stomach beyond hungry and all the vomiting from his withdrawals had not helped his condition in the slightest. If Greg would come to slit his throat from ear to ear, it would be mercy. It would be better than starving to death, better to die of thirst. In fact, by now, Klaus wished for death. He had lost all fight inside of him - not that there had been much, to begin with. In a way, he was embarrassed about his own weakness. 

Poor Diego.

He would be devastated when Klaus would be found in some dumpster like the others before him. "Klaus, come on, Man!" Ben frowned. "Don't be such a fucking pussy! You are much stronger than this! You could get out of here yourself if you would just stop being such a wuss for one second in your pathetic excuse for a life! You know what the worst part about being dead is? It's to watch your brother throw away everything that you’ve lost and all you can do is watch! If it were me in this chair, I would fight tooth and nail to get out of here! But you ... You just accepted it! You can't just accept this, Klaus! You are stronger than this, come on! If not for yourself, then do it for Diego! It would kill him to lose you!" 

"No … No … Greg’s right." He slurred. "He’d be better off without me … All of you would be better off without me … Perhaps you were still alive if it weren’t for me." 

He hadn't even been there when Ben died and still he felt this way. He had always felt this way. Ben had been beloved by everyone. And when he had died, the team had collapsed completely. After Ben’s death, there had been no coming back from it, no chance of healing, no chance of getting over it. Just loss and pain and heartache and sadness. If he had died instead … He wondered if his siblings would have even cared about it. 

They had always thought that Klaus would be the first one to go anyway. He knew it. He knew that his siblings had been waiting for the day he would kick the bucket ever since he had started doing drugs. To them, it had been the inevitable outcome of his prolonged drug-abuse. The only one not okay with this, the only one who had not accepted this, had been Diego. Always Diego. Strong, reliant, warm-hearted Diego. The heart of the family. 

Ben was right, if he died here, it would kill Diego and he hated himself for it. He would bring his brother pain one last time and then Diego would be free from him and their fucked-up little relationship.

"Klaus!" Ben all but yelled at him and if he wouldn't know any better, he thought he had felt his brother slap him straight in the face. He was hallucinating again. The gasp that tore from Ben’s throat was very real, though and so was the way he stared at his hand. Klaus, on the other hand, could not quite understand what the deal was about. His head was pounding and his vision swimming. Behind him, the steel door creaked open and Klaus knew that the last few hours of his life had just begun.

"I’ve missed you." Greg sing-sang as he entered the room and allowed the door to fall back in its hinges. Klaus didn't even jump anymore at the sound. It was the sound of the mausoleum doors falling shut. It was the sound of the lid of a casket slipping into place.

"Oh, Honey" He mocked even though he barely had enough energy for it. "Didn't expect you home so early. I would’ve dolled myself up a little for ya otherwise, Baby." 

As Greg walked around the chair, he dragged one finger over Klaus’ bruised left shoulder. It was black and blue, a spiderweb running down his shoulder and upper body. He didn't even know if it was just dislocated or broken as well. He had lost track of his injuries. All he knew was that his body was a tangled mess by now. He had been fairly good-looking before and now … Well, he was glad that there was no mirror. His nose was broken and he was barely able to breathe through it, he couldn't open his left eye anymore, he was missing a tooth in the back of his mouth and he was covered in dirt and blood and grime and just wanted it all to end. 

"You know" Greg sighed as he came around and stopped in front of him. "I enjoyed your company. But I think it’s time to move on now."

"Oh, that's a shame." Klaus gave his best to sound as disconcerted and nonchalant as he possibly could. His heart had long stopped racing in fear. Death was better. 

"But there’s one last thing I wanna do with you." Greg grinned as he dragged his fingers down his cheek. His eyes were lifeless and dull - like a dead fish. A man who had long stopped living. Funny. God had a very ironic sense of humor. His grin was that of a shark. "You know, you were the first who wouldn't stop talking. The others … They screamed and cried and pleaded, yes, but they didn't  _ talk _ . They shut up eventually. They even stopped crying and screaming eventually. But you didn't. And, frankly, it's a bit annoying. I can't stand people that talk too much. My ex was just like this. He always talked too much. Tried to talk his way out of everything. Almost succeeded talking his way out of everything. You are just like him. You have a boyfriend, right? I saw him running around looking for you. And yet you sell your body to the night. I bet you talked and talked and talked his ear off too so that he would take you back again and again. Let’s put an end to this, shall we? So that you may not be able to talk your way out of anything else."

At first, he was confused about what he was saying but then Greg started rummaging in his little toolbox. He saw the glint of a needle - the kind that was used to sew leather - and a thick thread. This, finally, brought back the panic he had long forgotten at this point. 

※※※※※※※

They had lost him. 

Two hours after Eudora went into the bookstore, Luther and Diego had seen Hendricks leave the store and lock it. That in and of itself would not have been weird, Diego assumed, except for the fact that it had not even been 3 PM as he closed the shop down for the day. Of course, he could just be going for a break but Diego and Luther watched how Hendricks went over to his car that was parked at the side of the street, flung his back into the passenger’s seat, and drove off. 

Of course, the brothers had wasted no second and started following the inconspicuous grey Ford as it drove down the main street at a reasonable pace. Even as Hendricks had left the store, he had not looked remotely as if he was in a hurry or in any way nervous. If he was the Ripper he had nerves of steel. They followed the car all through town, watching as he stopped to quickly go into a bakery and come out with a bag of donuts and continue his path. It was frustrating. 

"I don't think he’s our guy." Luther had sighed after one hour of driving around and watching Hendricks run some errands. 

"Or he knows he’s being followed." Diego shrugged. "Perhaps he’s just a very careful guy and tries to get us off his scent - or the police." 

"Diego-"

"Yeah, I know it's unlikely."

"No - Don't you think he’s in there a bit too long?" Luther pointed at the grocery store that Hendricks had entered a while ago under their watchful eyes. "He’s been in there for over thirty minutes now."

"Maybe he needs a lot of stuff."

"Nah, come on." Luther sighed. "He would go to Walmart or Target then. This store is tiny!" 

"What are you saying?"

"I’m saying that we should go in and look if he’s still in there." 

Minutes later, they had realized that they had been tricked. Hendricks had played with them. He had known that they were following him and drove around to make them bored and tired - made them lose focus only to sneak out through the back exit of the tiny store. His car he had left behind, so either he had had another car waiting for him behind the shop or he had gone by foot. 

"What now?" Luther sighed after they had gone back to the car.

"We can only wait that Eudora has news on the car." Waiting. Again. They were running out of time and all they could do was wait as Klaus’ life was slowly ticking away. The later it got, the more agitated Diego became. It just couldn't be that they had been so close to finding Klaus and now they were back to square one!

"You and Klaus" Luther broke the silence as they sat idly in their car somewhere on a street in downtown. It was dark outside by now and the icy winds promised the first snow to fall. "I never asked how that started." 

He was too perplex to be angry as he looked at Luther from the side. His brother looked tired and had updated their father around an hour ago. Reginald had apparently gone over to try and find that car too. Knowing their father, he would probably be quicker than the police. Hopefully, he was. Thanks to Reginald, they now knew at least that the supermarket Hendricks had vanished from belonged to his uncle. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean … When did you know that you love him? How did you know? And how did you know that he feels the same?" It was such a weird question to come out of his brother’s mouth that Diego almost took a double-take. They had gotten closer - gradually - through their shared efforts of finding their brother but that wouldn't make up for years and years of constant rivalry and bickering and fighting. If Diego would have been the type to talk about things like these with anyone, he would have talked about them with Ben at the most but certainly not with Luther. Yet, here they were.

"I don't know." He shrugged as he tried to think of the right words to use right now - or rather to describe the situation. "It just happened. We were always close, it seemed natural. It wasn’t like … I was hit with something either - like in the movies. I just … I looked at him and knew. And then he started sneaking out and I hated him for it. Especially when I learned what he was doing out there. I got jealous. I got outright hateful."

"Yeah, I remember." Luther huffed. "You hit him straight in the face during training once." 

"I did … And you know what he did?"

"What?"

"That night he came to me, crawled in my bed, and just told me that he loved me even though I broke his nose that day." Even remembering it put a smile on his face. "I wasn't sure how he meant it, first. So I said ‘Love ya too’ but Klaus looked at me and said ‘No, I mean it’ - and that was that. To him … it seemed so easy. I’m sure it wasn’t easy but he made it look like it, he made me feel like it was simple as that. Back then I was so afraid because of the way I felt towards him. I beat myself up over it all the time and was angry and frustrated with myself. But Klaus … I envied the balls he had, the courage to just tell me how it was with no bullshit, and no excuses. He made me realize that there was nothing wrong about it."

"Yeah, that's just Klaus." Luther chuckled. "I remember … when we were like sixteen, Klaus and I talked once. We never talked much … It was my fault, of course. I always pushed him away and made him feel bad, after all. Anyway, Allison had just told me that she was going to move out as soon as we would turn seventeen to go to L.A. and she asked me to come with her. And Klaus … he overheard this and he came to me later, told me that I needed to go with her, that I needed to follow my heart - that there was nothing wrong about the way I felt towards her. And I … Fuck, I pushed him away, told him how disgusting I thought your fling was. Still, Klaus never held it against me." 

His instinct told him to punch Luther’s teeth in for saying something like this to Klaus all those years ago but he understood where his brother was coming from. Luther had been afraid. He had been indoctrinated by their father to only believe what Reginald was telling him. He had been a coward much like Diego had been.

"We need to find him … I … I wouldn't survive losing him." Even though some people would say it might be better this way because Diego would be free at last. He didn't want to be free. He didn't want to leave this prison. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, the radio crinkled.

"Diego? Diego, come in!" Eudora’s voice crinkled through the radio and his hand immediately shot towards the device to respond.

"Yeah, I’m here. Anything new?"

"Yes. A patrol car spotted a green honda civic si that could match our car near the harbor. It's close by that warehouse that belonged to that drug ring we busted two years ago. The warehouse wasn’t sold after so it’s still abandoned. You know where that is?"

Luther already stepped on the gas.

"Meet you there." 

※※※※※※※

The pain was not the worst. It was sharp and awful and gut-wrenching and nauseating, yes. It wasn’t the worst, though. As Greg dragged the thread through his abused flesh, it hurt and made him want to vomit his guts out but knowing that he would die like this, that he would die unable to scream was far worse than any pain could ever be. Klaus’ powers had always been useless. His only true power and weapon of choice was his voice, his words, his wit. He couldn't die like this. Another muffled groan got stuck in his mouth as Greg pushed the needle through the flesh right above his upper lip once more.

He wanted to scream but the sound got stuck in his throat and was reduced to a pitiful whimper. 

"See?" Greg hummed as he pulled the thread through one last time. "Much better. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed hearing you scream but all that talking is just annoying." Greg smiled at him as he leaned forward with his hands on his knees to take in his handiwork while Klaus was barely clinging to consciousness. They had arrived at the end of his story and he knew this. He could feel it. His body was giving up. He couldn't wait for the knife to cut him open now. The sweet release of death couldn't come quick enough and yet, there was this part of him that wanted to keep fighting. The part of him that desperately clung to the hope that Diego would come to save him.

Nobody was coming to save him. He could see the other victims linger about - agitated and angry and restless. They were vibrating with energy, almost tangible, almost really here, waiting for their chance to rip Greg to shreds. He was losing his mind. He could feel madness crawling through the room, crawling up his legs. It felt like being doused in ice-water. Madness crawled over him and everywhere it went, he lost all feeling in his limbs. His toes and fingers started tingling as if they had gone numb.

_ Ah _ , he thought to himself now unable to vocalize his thoughts,  _ this is death. This is what dying feels like. Now you can only save yourself.  _

He didn't even know where this thought came from but once in his head, it was impossible to swallow back down. The voice in his head wasn’t even his. It wasn’t Ben either. He had no idea what it was but it kept repeating the same thing over and over and over.  _ You can only save yourself _ . 

Keeping his eyes open seemed impossible. He just wanted to give up and succumb but the glowing ghosts around him were blinding and burning his eyes. He couldn't hear Greg as he screamed out in horror - just saw how his mouth opened widely into a scream. He couldn't hear anything anymore, just the high pitched whistling in his ears. None of the things that he saw made sense either. He was hallucinating. There was no way that what he saw was actually real. The blue light, the creeping specters. 

Was this death? Was this the afterlife already where he was surrounded by ghosts? Was he a ghost? He didn't seem to be made out of blue light, though. God … There was so much blood. It was everywhere. It was on him and on the floor and all over the walls as Greg was being ripped apart by tentacles. Horrifying tentacles. Only then Klaus finally understood. This was a dream. A nightmare. He was not really here. He was safe in Diego’s bed and dreaming. He was having a bad trip but Diego would be there right next to him, take him in his strong arms and soothe his mind. It was only a matter of seconds now until he would wake up.

And then the blue lights were gone except for his brother Ben. His brother was a blue light. He was woven out of moonlight. Beautiful. Ben was crouching in front of him now, looking up at him with wide eyes as if he could see something that Klaus couldn't. He wanted to speak but he couldn't open his mouth. It was sewn shut. Yes, he remembered. God, when would he finally wake up? 

"Klaus!" Ben’s voice sounded like it was coming out of his grave. "You need to focus! I need you to focus! Please, Klaus, for me, okay? I’m gonna get rid of these ropes and then you’ll go to the door and you’ll go out. You need to find help now - Please, I can’t do it for you!" 

He didn't know what Ben wanted from him but he nodded anyway as he watched in amazement how Ben cut the rope with a knife. His hands brushed over his naked arms and he felt a wave of cold air wash over him at that. It was weird and he didn't understand it. Then, Ben guided him into a standing position but he could barely hold himself up. He was almost dead. He could feel it. Death was so so cold and yet he was standing, staggering towards the metal door as Ben’s guiding hands left him and he was no longer with him. Opening the door seemed an impossible task. It was heavy and cold and he didn't have any strength left in his body to do it. 

As he stumbled out of the room and into the dark hallway he almost fell but somehow he kept himself on his feet. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back up if he would fall. He wasn’t in pain anymore. That was probably a bad sign. He didn't feel any pain - only fear. He was all alone. Until now he had had Benny to guide him through this nightmare but Benny was gone now. There was no one around - not even a ghost. He was alone. And he was scared and he couldn't move forward anymore. His knees were already buckling under his weight as he fought his way down the corridor, clutching the wall for support. He couldn't even call out for help. He would die here and no one would ever find him.

Why couldn't he wake up? He just wanted to wake up!

A bright light was flashing through the darkness, blinding him like the headlights of a truck. He stumbled, falling over his own feet and crashed into the concrete floor.

※※※※※※※

The car was parked in the shadows of the vacant warehouse. The police cruiser that had spotted the car in the first place was no longer around. It seemed a miracle that one of Eudora’s colleagues had seen it just by driving past, to begin with. Yet, there it was. As Diego and Luther approached the vehicle with their flashlights, Diego could see the dirty license plate that he had seen on the motel’s security camera footage for the first time. It was the same car. There was no question about it. 

His heart was beating out of his chest. They were so close now. The moon stood high in the sky. Day seven of Klaus’ imprisonment was approaching with quick strides now. They were running out of time and each second mattered. Just while they were looking at the car, Hendricks might be cutting Klaus’ throat. 

"We should wait for the police," Luther said as Diego was already making his way into the abandoned warehouse through one of the unlocked side doors. Inside, there were plenty of signs that this warehouse was a place were plenty of parties were taking place on a regular basis. The walls were covered in graffiti, empty bottles, and beer cans were littering the ground here and there. It was impossible to say when the last party had taken place but Diego had to commend Hendricks for choosing this place. Nobody would suspect a murder den underneath a place like this where so many people were milling around all the time. Not to mention how easy it was to mask your fingerprints and evidence in a place like this that was so polluted. 

"We don't have time to wait for them, Luther!" Diego shot back as the beam of his flashlight darted across the walls and the floors in search of some door or stairs - some way down because he was certain that the murder den was in the basement of the warehouse. When a party was going on upstairs, nobody would hear the screams of the victims downstairs and nobody would even notice Hendricks going in and out. He was clever. And he was bold. And he had nothing to lose. Those were the most dangerous predators roaming this planet. "Every second counts!" 

Finally, the beam of his flashlight caught on a metal door right at the side of the building. The staircase! He started running without looking back and had busted through the door in an instance. He could hear the sound of sirens wailing in the distance as he made it down the first flight of stairs. The police were coming. Eudora was about to be here. She would see their car parked in front of the warehouse and know that they were inside. She would help. 

Luther was rushing down the stairs behind him as quickly as he could. When they were kids, they would have tried to squeeze past each other, always trying to outshine the other one. There was no time for such squabbling now. Beneath the warehouse, the place was almost bigger. Down here the workers had had their locker rooms and their break rooms back in the days. The security room was down the hall as one sign at the wall indicated but there was no telling of where Hendricks might keep his victims. It was then, as the brothers dove further and further into the darkness of the basement, that they could hear the sound of a heavy door scraping sharply over the concrete flooring. The sound echoed all throughout the building as it seemed. 

Quickly, the brothers followed the sound into the next corridor. They could see light coming from the end of the hallway from where the door had been opened. The pitter-patter of naked feet echoed from the walls and before Diego could even begin to understand what was happening, the beam of his flashlight fell upon Klaus, staggering towards him until he stumbled over his own bloody feet and slammed into the ground. The surprise didn't last long as it was actually Luther who ran past Diego and towards their brother lying face down on the ground. He wasn’t moving and Diego was frozen in his spot. He couldn't move. He had already started losing hope to ever see Klaus again alive but there he was... 

"We need an ambulance!" 

Everything had been but a blur as Luther had lifted Klaus into his arms to meet the police and the ambulances upstairs just as Eudora and her colleagues had begun swarming the place. Klaus had fallen unconscious the moment they had finally found him. Maybe it was better this way. He had to have been in agony and although this had been expected after everything Klaus had been through those past six days, Diego felt ready to pass out himself as he finally saw the full extent of Klaus’ injuries.

He had trailed after Luther while his big brother had carried Klaus back up the way they had come from and only as he had given Klaus over to the paramedics, Diego had realized that Luther had tried to shield Diego from looking at Klaus. 

His mouth was sewn shut with crude stitches and a thick leather thread running through his lips. His left eye was in so bad a condition that the doctors were afraid Klaus would lose his eye. He was bruised, black and blue all over, his perfect skin marred with cuts. His left hand a mangled mess, his shoulder black from bruising. He was bloody from head to toe. There seemed not one inch of his skin that was untouched. His body seemed completely broken as he laid on this stretcher as the first snowflakes of the year started to fall around them - like a ragdoll that had been thrown against a wall by a moody child. 

Diego could only watch helplessly how the paramedics put a blanket over him and strapped Klaus to the stretcher securely before pressing an oxygen mask to his battered face. And then, only for a second, Klaus opened his eye to nothing more than a narrow slit. Despite all the noise and the lights and the hustle and bustle around them, just for that second, Klaus found Diego’s eyes and if he wouldn't have known it any better, he would have thought that Klaus actually smiled at him.

**-End of Chapter 9-**


	10. Chapter 10

**Day 7**

The reassuring beeping of the heart monitor was the only thing keeping Diego Hargreeves sane as he sat next to Klaus on the uncomfortable plastic chair in the small hospital room. Reginald’s money and influence had secured Klaus a place in the best hospital in the city in one of the few private rooms. For his son only the best - at least Reginald wanted it to look like that to the public. To Diego, it was still an enigma if their old man actually cared about any of them or not. Regardless, he was thankful that Reginald had bothered to take care of that. Only the best doctors for Klaus to ensure his survival and his healing. 

Seven days. Seven days had now passed. The clock had ticked midnight the moment Klaus had been relocated into the ambulance. Seven days. The Ripper was dead and Klaus was still alive. It seemed a miracle. Sure, it had been a close call and Klaus was barely clinging to life as it was now but … he was alive.

_ "We don't know what happened." Patch said, rubbing a hand over her tired face. "It looks like … like he’s been ripped to shreds. And I don’t mean this figuratively. I mean, one of his arms was across the room, his head was ripped off clean and … geez. I didn't know Klaus had powers like this."  _

Ben. That was the first thing that Diego had thought as Eudora had told him that during the few minutes he had actually had time to talk to her since everything went down. Ben. Somehow Ben had been there to save Klaus. He couldn't explain how he knew this but even Reginald and Luther seemed to have believed that as well. 

There had been this curious spark in his father’s eyes but even his hard-hearted father had faltered when they had first been allowed into Klaus’ room. Number Four looked like dead. He had been cleaned up and the stitches on his mouth removed and still, he looked like a corpse. He couldn't breathe on his own. If there was something Diego just didn't want to see, it was Klaus with a tube down his throat. His body had collapsed and shut down the moment he had been in the ambulance and not recovered since.

And still, he was here. The first victim of the Ripper to survive. The first victim of the Ripper to slay the bastard like a beast. Because there was no question that this had been Klaus’ doing - somehow. None of that was important right now, though. All that mattered at this exact moment was Klaus’ hand in his own, being able to hold onto his hand and feeling that he was alive and warm to the touch. Diego got a second chance and that was way more than he could have ever hoped for. One more time he would be able to kiss the man he loved. One more time he would be able to tell him that he loved him. What more could he ask for?

A knock on the door behind him made him turn to look back over his shoulder to find Reginald standing there and looking severely out of place. It was odd how his father had seemed to only exist inside the house, looking back on it. That was, of course, bullshit. Reginald had often left home to bring them somewhere and do business. Yet, it seemed like him being here was something monumental that just didn't seem to fit the image that Diego had of the great Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

Maybe it was the fact that he had knocked.

"I spoke to his doctor," Reginald announced with the same blasé attitude he always confronted his children with. "He says that Number Four is expected to make a speedy recovery."

"That's good," Diego said clearing his throat even though he didn't know what led his doctor to that assumption. Klaus barely clung to life right now, after all. 

"We should talk about what happens when he is released."

"I can't follow." 

"It can't be in your best interest to continue the way it was before." There is was again, this analytical, clinical way his father used talked to talk to his children. As if they were nothing but machines in his eyes. Well, perhaps that was exactly it. They were machines. Not even human. 

"What are you saying?" Diego sighed. "You want him to come home or what? Nah, not gonna happen."

"I want both of you to come back home." Reginald didn't budge. His voice didn't get soft or gentle. Not like a father who wanted his children home and safe. Because he wasn't that. Under different circumstances, Sir Reginald wouldn't care less about two of his sons being homeless. Because despite what Diego might tell others, he was, in a way, still homeless just like Klaus. The boiler room didn't really count as a home now, did it? "Your brother will be in need of help and therapy. He needs all the resources that he can get and he will get them from me. I doubt that you will be able to take care of his needs without him sticking a needle into his arm in the span of six months." 

"You are doing a shit job of trying to convince me." He huffed. His father was right, though. If Klaus would stay with him, chances were good he would be on drugs again soon - if just to cope with everything that happened. 

"I understand it that you and your brother share a more intimate bond."

"We love each other - if that's what you mean." 

"If that is truly the case then you would want the best for him, isn't that right?" Reginald almost sounded understanding, almost as if he knew what he was talking about, almost as if he knew what it was like to love someone. He was right, though. Of course, Diego wanted the best care for Klaus. "Your brother needs a safe place to retreat to now - not some boiler room inside a boxing gym."

"You want to experiment on him." Diego sighed. "Because he seems to have shown new powers. You want to examine him."

"I won't deny that," Reginald replied. "I also want your brother to get the best chance of getting through this and become a stronger person. If you decide to come back with him, I assure you that I will not sabotage your relationship."

"You … not?" And now Diego was honestly surprised - shocked even.

"You are in no way related to each other," Reginald replied calmly. As always, he seemed to take the logical approach. No emotions or morals. Just cold hard facts and logic. It was, perhaps, the first time that Diego was actually thankful for that. "There is no reason why I should burden myself with petty drama like this."

"But-"

"Your liaison back in the day was a danger to the whole team, that is something different." Reginald then explained. "Furthermore, you were nothing but children and there was no way to tell how serious your emotions for one another would be. It could have been a mere fling, a fleeting rush because you were isolated from other children the same age. If I had allowed you to be together, this relationship might have ruined the team or it would have gotten you in danger during a mission." 

He couldn't argue with his father’s logic. Fuck … He hated that. 

"Our  _ liaison  _ … What an elegant way to put it. I love him, Sir, and he loves me. If we should decide to follow you home, you are going to live with that." He didn't need to waste a look at his adopted father to know the sour look Reginald graced him with. He didn't care. 

"Knock, knock?" As Diego looked back again, he saw Eudora standing in the doorway. Behind her, Luther was watching the scene like a hawk. He hadn't been there before so he had probably come back to the room with the cop. Eudora looked exhausted and tired and as if she just wanted to go to bed right now and pass out. As hard as this night had been for Diego, it couldn't have been an easy ride for her either. Still, Eudora gave a small polite nod towards Reginald before smiling at Diego. "Mind if I talk to you for a second?"

Diego looked at Luther and his brother nodded. "I can stay with him." He reassured Diego with a smile, knowing what his Number Two didn't dare to ask him. Sure, their father was here and he would probably stay as well but Diego just felt more at ease knowing that Luther would sit beside Klaus. With a sigh, Diego rose to his full height and walked out of the room as Luther walked in. He paused for a moment to watch how Luther took his seat at Klaus’ bedside before he followed Eudora around a corner. 

"How’s he doing?" Eudora gently probed to get the conversation starting. 

"I dunno." He sighed. "Doc said he doesn't know if he’ll pull through. It's looking bad … honestly."

"I’m sorry to hear that." She sounded honest as she brushed her hand over his biceps and deep down in her chocolate brown eyes there was still a hint of sympathy and maybe even of the friendship she felt for Diego despite everything that had happened between them. "I pray that he makes it."

"Is this why you wanted to talk to me?"

"No … It's … That room … And this guy … Geez, Diego! You should have seen it. It was complete carnage." She shook her head as if she tried to get the images out of her mind. 

"Yeah, you said so before." He replied quietly. "I guess … I guess it was him. Or … Or Ben. He always said that Ben was with him since his death."

"Oh." She mumbled. "Right … did you know he could do something like that? I mean … wasn't his whole thing talking to ghosts? I didn't know he could also manifest them - if that’s what happened there, that is."

"No." He shrugged. "But apparently he can. There is no other explanation. Klaus for sure didn't rip this asshole apart like this himself, right?" 

"Wow." She sighed. "Well, good for him, though … He would be dead if he hadn't been able to … well … do whatever he did. It's a shame that we can't get this bastard behind bars, though."

It was a shame that Diego didn't get the chance of taking revenge on this man. It was a shame that Diego didn't get the chance of making this bastard pay for what he did to Klaus. He wanted to rip this man apart piece by piece for every little scratch on Klaus’ body. But, apparently, that was exactly what Ben had done by some miracle. Ben, his dead brother, had done what he couldn't. 

"Well, I guess my boss will want to talk to you and your brother soon about how you found that place. And he will want to talk to Klaus as soon as he will be able to talk." She sighed and shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. She left unsaid what Diego feared the most and Diego was grateful that she did. 

It wasn’t like he was naive either. He knew how high the possibility of Klaus’ death really was. He had internal bleeding, a ruptured spleen, and all kinds of other injuries - not to mention the infection raging inside his body from days of being locked in a dirty cell being subjected to torture like this. Yet, talking about it would make it more real, he felt. 

"I’m glad he’s alive." She then said to his surprise. "Although sometimes, in the past, I wished he was dead. I’m glad he’s still here. Take care."

The way Eudora smiled at him seemed oddly final. It was as if she was finally drawing a line underneath their relationship for good, as if she had finally come to terms with everything and was ready to really move on. Diego felt a wave of relief wash over him. In a way, their relationship had been over and done a long time ago, after Eudora had broken up with him and yet, there had always been something lingering in the back of both their minds. A ‘what if’ sort of thing. What if Klaus had died in the past couple of years? What if Klaus had died now? Would they have gotten back together perhaps? Would they even have been able to find happiness together at last without Klaus always hovering in the peripheral? 

This time, however, it seemed final and though he had always thought that he would feel hopeless and a tad-bit sadness when this day would come, all he felt now was relief. They could move forward now. Both of them. And they could remain friends without all the baggage and all the guilt and sadness clinging to their souls.

As he returned to Klaus, Luther and Reginald said their goodbyes for the day while Diego took back his seat at his brother’s side. He would remain here for as long as it would take for Klaus to open his eyes again and no one would ever get him to leave his side. 

※※※※※※※

During his time inside this god-awful room, he had wanted nothing more than to see the boiler room apartment again. Now, it seemed claustrophobic and suffocating. He couldn't breathe. And Diego … He was his sun and his moon - his entire world. He was also the person he was the most afraid of. Afraid of the way he would look at him. Afraid of the rejection that would inevitably come. In Diego’s eyes, he seemed to be the most fragile thing he had ever seen. Never would he raise his voice at Klaus, no matter how hard he tried to make him angry.

He was a prisoner once more. This time, however, he was a prisoner of his own making. He couldn't stand being in this tiny room underneath the gym, yet, even the idea of leaving the gym filled him with terror.

"You need to eat." Diego's voice was so soft he couldn't stand it. He wanted to throw the plate that he was holding in his face. He couldn't even stand the smell of the waffles Diego had bought for him from the diner down the road. Diego didn't want him to leave the boiler room or the gym. Diego was afraid to leave him out of his sight for more than a few minutes at a time. He was a prisoner. Diego was a prisoner. They would rip each other to shreds. 

"Not hungry." He murmured as he rolled onto his back to stare at one particularly interesting water stain on the ceiling. Perhaps the plaster would crumble on his face soon. Wouldn't that be exciting? "Come back to bed."

Diego sighed as he took a seat on the mattress by his side and placed the plate with the waffles on the apple crate he was using as his bedside table. "Bad day?" 

"Yeah." 

"What can I do to make it better?"

"Nothing." There was nothing Diego could do. Nothing Ben could do. Nothing he could do. He was stuck in limbo. Two weeks ago he had been released from the hospital. Christmas was right around the corner. Outside, the world was covered in snow and people were busy strolling around buying gifts for their loved ones. As a child he had always loved Christmas until resignation had settled in, knowing that they, as a family, would never get to experience Christmas the same way normal people would. They never had a Christmas tree. They never had stockings hanging in front of the fireplace. They never got gifts for the holiday. And, after he started living on the streets, he had begun to hate Christmas. Really hate it. 

He had hated the people running around like lemmings, buying gifts for ungrateful family members and expressing their feelings towards them through a price tag. He had hated the superficial friendliness and the sudden wave of benevolence. The worst were those people who started to fill up homeless shelters and soup kitchens and orphanages at this time of the year after being hit by a sudden flash of guilt and the desire to give back to society and to the less fortunate people that they would ignore the rest of the year. Sure, he had gone to the soup kitchen when he knew those kinds of volunteers would be there. They were so easy to steal from, after all. He would have been stupid not to go but seeing their smiling faces and their concerned looks had made him want to vomit every time. 

None of those people truly cared and, the worst thing was, he himself had never cared as long as he had had a roof over his head and enough food to fill his belly. He had been lucky, growing up. Sure, his father had beaten him into submission both figuratively and literally speaking. Sure, he had locked him in a mausoleum furthering his trauma until he had seen no other escape than the drugs. But he had had a home, food, a family of sorts. He could have ended up at an orphanage just as well. Or dead.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Diego smiled as he gingerly laid down next to him on the narrow bed. It was impossible to lay here without touching and yet Diego had made it his personal mission in life to avoid touching Klaus at all cost. He feared hurting him. He feared scaring him. His wounds had yet to heal. And that were only the visible ones. That, Diego could help him with by changing his bandages, checking on his scars. But Diego couldn't do anything about the monster in his head. 

As Diego came to rest next to him, Klaus slowly turned back onto his side and placed his head on his shoulder and his bad arm around Diego’s middle. The warmth his lover emanated was like a soothing fire.

"I just thought that I would like to build a snowman." He lied with a little smile. Lying to Diego was always easy because Diego knew that he was lying and yet he refused to say anything about it. Diego understood him without words. He knew when to prod and when not to. He knew when to play along and when to demand honesty.

"Remember how we built a snowman when we were like … I dunno … Six? Or seven? Dad never allowed us to leave the house back then. Even in the yard, we were only allowed with Mom or Pogo." Diego sighed as he pulled him tighter against his side. "But every year when it would snow, we would sit together in the living room, our noses pressed against the windows and we would beg Dad to let us out and let us play in the snow like the kids on TV. He never allowed it, though."

"He was a hard-hearted bastard." 

"Yeah." Diego laughed. "But that year, we - you, Ben and I - snuck out in the middle of the night to build our very first snowman. And we had no idea how you are supposed to do it. We spent hours outside trying to get the snow into the shape we wanted it to be. And then, later, as it was almost morning, you ran inside and grabbed a few things for him to wear."

"I stole Dad’s monocle and top hat."

"You wanted him to be dressed his absolute best. You thought he would come alive if he would be properly dressed."

"Well, that's what Five told me." Klaus huffed. "He was a stinky liar. And then Dad took back his shit and told Luther to destroy Mr. Snowy."

They fell back into a comfortable silence for a moment before Diego pressed a kiss to Klaus’ temple. "I have an idea." 

Not half an hour later, Diego’s car stopped at the side of the snow-covered sidewalk in front of the academy. "What are we doing here?" Klaus turned to face Diego but his brother just smirked at him. Klaus wanted to be anywhere but at the place of his torment and he knew that Diego felt just the same way about this house. He trusted the man he loved enough to know that Diego would not force him to go inside despite their father’s offer to allow them to come back home. Fuck, hearing from Diego how their father had helped in the search for him was still weird to him. To this day, Klaus had not yet been able to wrap his head around everything that had happened. 

"We are going to remedy a few things." 

With those words, Diego got out of the car and opened the passenger’s door a second later to help Klaus out of the car. It was so early in the day that only a few people were out and about at this time and most of them hurried along in the cold December air. Klaus watched in confusion how Diego chose a spot on the sidewalk and started to gather snow there. 

"Dee-"

"We are building a snowman." Diego grinned and threw a small snowball straight at Klaus’ face with the usual accuracy. First, he was sure that Diego had lost his mind but then, as he saw with how much childish amusement Diego was going about the task, Klaus finally joined him and started gathering the snow himself. 

"You are crazy." He laughed after a while as their snowman slowly began taking shape. Sure, he was still in pain and couldn't move nearly as much as he would have liked to and he was kinda handicapped with only having his right hand at his disposal for now but it was still fun.

"Crazy for you, perhaps." Diego winked at him in response and managed to force another laugh from Klaus at this. 

After everything that went down, he hadn't felt able to laugh at anything and he was sure that he had still a long way ahead of him but it was a step forward. Diego still loved him. Diego still looked at him as if he was the most precious thing he had ever seen. He didn't look at him as if he would see only his scars and the marks that Greg had left on him. Klaus, on the other hand, still saw his tormentor when he would look in the mirror and see the scars that he had left around his mouth. They would heal over time, like all the other wounds, like his fingernails that were starting to grow back painfully now, like his mangled left hand that was full of bolts and metal right now. 

In his past, on the street, he had been raped a few times - it came with the territory. This time it had been different, though and perhaps it never was any different at the same time. Being high all the time had just made it easier to ignore what had happened and he was sure that, if he had started shooting up again after Greg, he would already be back down on his knees for Diego or some other guy. Things were different now, though. He wasn't back on drugs. And he wasn't back down on his knees in some random alley. And he never wanted to leave Diego’s side again. Of course, he knew that it was unhealthy, this codependency that they had going on but right now, here on the sidewalk building this crappy malformed snowman with Diego just like when they were kids, gave him back a bit of hope. 

"We didn't learn a thing in the past twenty years, did we?" Klaus huffed as they, at last, looked at their masterpiece. Their snowman was crooked and weird looking with twigs as arms that were not even symmetrical and all kinds of different stones for his mouth, eyes, and nose. 

"Apparently not." Diego laughed. "We should try to steal Dad’s shit again." 

"I don't think that saves this poor guy," Klaus smirked. For a moment they allowed silence to settle over them again and for once the silence didn't feel uncomfortable. After a few moments, Klaus finally bridged the distance between them because he knew that Diego wouldn't do it. He was afraid. Afraid that Klaus would break into a thousand tiny little pieces like a broken mirror if he did. So it was Klaus who took Diego’s hand in his own and Klaus who pulled Diego’s arm around him until they were close enough for him to rest his chin on Diego’s shoulder. "Thanks, Dee." He murmured into the crook of his neck.

"I love you," Diego replied just as softly. What he really meant was ‘I would do anything for you’. He didn't need to say it, though and Klaus didn't need to reply the same words as Klaus tilted his head up again to steal a kiss from Diego’s lips. 

He missed the old them. He missed the carefreeness of their interactions in the past. He missed coming to Diego and just smash their mouths together or fuck like animals. At the same time, however, he was glad that they were not the same anymore. He had hurt Diego in the past, broken his heart even. In a way, Klaus never wanted to go back to that person he once was. In a way, he was more free now than he had ever been before. In the past, he had claimed that the drugs were giving him freedom and permission to be his true self but looking back at it now, he knew that he had been lying to himself. The drugs had been the one cage he had never been able to escape from. 

Perhaps, in a twisted way, he was even thankful for the horrors he had gone through. At least now he knew what was of real importance in his life. At least now he could see the path clearly. He knew now what he had to do. Until now, he had refused to even consider therapy. Until now, he had refused to even think about their father’s offer. But seeing Luther at the hospital, seeing Mom there, seeing this house now and their crappy little snowman on the sidewalk, it gave him direction. 

"We should go home," Klaus mumbled as they broke the kiss at last. 

"Yeah, we should. It's getting cold. Come on, we stop at Griddy’s and then back to the gym."

"No … No … I don't mean … the gym." Klaus then decided with a little sigh and a smile at Diego. "It's time to go  _ home _ , Dee." 

**-End of Chapter 10-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for coming along on the ride and for your support! <3 <3 <3


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